Romantic narratives from Scottish history and tradition

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Romantic Narratives from Scottish History

BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

CURIOUS EPISODES IN SCOTTISH HISTORY.
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ROMANTIC

NARRATIVES

From Scottish History and
Tradition

ROBERT SCOTT FITTIS

Author o/ "Heroines of Scotland," " Sports and Pastimes of Scot land J
11 Curious Episodes in Scottish History," &PC.

Ancient lore
In chronicle or legend rare explore

Joanna Baillie — " Birthday Lines" t\ w

Oft conducted by historic truth,
You tread the long extent of backward time

Thomson's "Seasons" (Spring)

PAISLEY: ALEXANDER GARDNER

$ttblt6her bj) Jlppotntment to the lute QJueert Bi
1903

760

PRINTED BY

CONTENTS

I'AUE

I. — A WILD SCOT OF GALLOWAY 9

II. — THE MYSTERY OF QUEEN ANNE'S JEWELS 23

III. — THE TOURNAMENT OF HADDINGTON 38

IV. — THE LAST CORONATION IN SCOTLAND 51

V. — THE EVELICK TRAGEDY 114

VI. — THE RAID OF CLAN DONNACHIE - 151

VII. — THE FINLARIG CHRISTENING 166

VIII. — THE SANCTUARY OF ST. BRIDE 180

IX. — A JACOBITE CATERAN 193

X. — THE WEARING OF THE TARTAN - 207

XI. — THE AFFRAY AT THE RED PARLIAMENT 221

XII. — THE KIRK OF BLAIR TRAGEDY 234

XIII. — THE SENESCHAL OF STRATHEARN - - 261

XIV. — TRADITIONAL STORIES —

1. The Lady of Bothwellhaugh ; and

Lady Anne Both well (the True

Versions) - - 278

2. The Countess of Cassillis (the True

Version) 291

3. Nicniven, the Witch of Monzie (the

True Version) 301

4. The Treasure-Seekers 309

5. The Corpse-Candles - 349

I.— A Wild Scot of Galloway.

My tale I will tell that the sceptic may scan,
If the Galloway Wild Scot was merely a man.

— -Joseph Train.

AN old family among the " wild Scots of Galloway "
bore the surname of Maculach, Mackulagh, or M'Culloch
— one of the oldest families,, indeed, in that rude and
turbulent province of Scotland — and claimed as pro-
genitor a king of the Britons of Strathclyde.

From an early period the Maculachs held lands in
Wigtonshire and the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright : and
they, like many other Galwegians, supported John Baliol
in his competition with Robert Bruce for the Scottish
crown. Moreover, when Baliol was driven from his
throne by Edward I., the Maculachs ranged themselves
on the side of the victorious invader, to whom a William
Mackulagh swore fealty at Berwick, in 1296 : and to that
side the family steadfastly adhered throughout the War
of Independence under Wallace and Bruce. In reward
of his constancy, Thomas Mackulagh, the head of the
house, was raised by King Edward, in 1305, to the
dignity of Sheriff of Wigtonshire. Eventually all Gallo-
way submitted to King Robert Bruce. But Edward
2 9

IO Narratives from Scottish History.

Baliol's enterprise to dispossess the infant King, David
Bruce, of his regal birthright, was stoutly backed by
Patrick Maculach, to whom, in 1337-38, Edward III. of
England granted a pension of ^20 ; and in 1341, the
same monarch ordered payment of £2 and 14 pence to
Gilbert Maculach, as his wages in the English service.
The star of Baliol, however, set in disaster, and David II.
was restored to his throne.

When David invaded England, and was defeated and
taken prisoner at the battle of Durham, in 1346, Edward
Baliol, judging that his star was emerging from the abyss
of misfortune, entered Galloway, and was cordially wel-
comed by the Maculachs and others ; but his cause
made no head — the stars in their courses were fighting
against him. Negotiations being set on foot by the
Scots for the ransom of their sovereign, Baliol appointed
three Commissioners, one of whom was Patrick Macu-
lach, to protest before Edward III. and his Council
against the liberation, on any terms, of the royal captive.
The protest was duly made, and in response King
Edward gave assurance that nothing should be done
prejudicial to the Baliol interest. But King David was
ultimately released, and Baliol's adherents in wild Gallo-
way were soon subdued.

The Galwegians rose in support of the insurrection in
1488, against James III., and were led to the field of
Sauchie, under the command of Lord Gray. Among
them was Alexander M'Culloch of Myretown, the head
of the family, who obtained from James IV. the appoint-
ment of Master of the King's Hawks, with a pension of
£100.

In 1664, the M'Culloch house of Myretoun, in the
Wigtonshire parish of Mochrum, was honoured by

A Wild Scot of Galloivay. \ \

Charles II. with a baronetage of Nova Scotia. But even
then that house had entered on decline, which in after
years progressed by rapid stages to utter ruin. Facilis
est descensus Averno.

The lands of Cardiness or Cardoness, in the Kirkcud-
bright parish of Anwoth, with their ancient square tower
surmounting a height which overlooks the river Fleet as
it debouches into ihe bay ot that name, had once, it
seems, been owned by the M'Cullochs, but were now
owned by a family called Gordon. A claim to this pro-
perty was set up by the baronet of Myretoun, who had
his residence at the house of Bardarroch, on the same
side of Fleet Bay. The claim was denied in tch, and
so he resolved to oust the Gordons by any means fair or
foul. At first, he tried to give his proceedings the colour
of law. The Gordons, like most of their neighbours,
were owing debts, and these, which were of no consider-
able amount, Sir Alexander began to buy up from the
creditors whenever he found opportunity, " He did buy
certain pleas, debts, comprisings, and factories of the-
estate, and used all means to get himself intruded there-
unto" by procuring diligence and " Letters of Ejection,"
or Ejectment, against the Gordons. But they withstood
his practices, and would not be ejected. He was a man
of violent passions, and the resistance and consequent
disappointment roused him to resort to measures beyond
the law, which as yet was little respected in that half-
civilized province.

By the year 1664, the Laird of Cardiness was dead,
leaving a widow, Marion Peebles, styled by courtesy of
the country Lady Cardiness, and two sons, William and
Alexander, who lived in family with her at the house of
Bussabiel, or Bush o' Bield, in the same parish of Anwoth.

1 2 Narratives from Scottish History.

This house, which was somewhat of baronial structure,
having been probably built for some Laird, and stood in
the midst of sheltering trees (hence the word Bush\ had
been the residence or manse of the famous Samuel
Rutherford while minister of Inwoth, 1627 to 1639,
except during his banishment to Aberdeen for about a
year and a half previous to February, 1638. The Lady
Cardiness was now an aged and infirm woman, obliged
to walk with a stilt. She was liferentrix of the estate,
which, after her death, was to pass to the heir, a young
grandson.

The Myretoun baronet resolved to deal with the
strong hand by instituting a " reign of terror," which
would, he thought, frighten the Gordons out of house
and land. With this view, he, on Friday, the igth
August, 1664, assembled an armed band comprising his
two sons, Godfrey and John, three M'Culloch kinsmen,
Alexander Ferguson of Kilkerran, and others, and lead-
ing them on to Bush o' Bield, began a series of barbar-
ous outrages, which probably could only have been
perpetrated in Galloway. The poor old lady was in bed
when her enemies came ; but this did not prevent them
assailing her with blows till she fainted among their
hands ; and next they pulled down the roof of the room
where she lay, with the evident intention of smothering
her. Tbinking they had effectually disposed of the
mother, they fell foul of the son William, " wounded him
dangerously in the arm and hand, to the hazard of his
life, not permitting the servants to give him drink, or go
for a chirurgeon to dress his wounds, or administer any
kind of help or comfort to him for a long time." When
the gang had done all this mischief, they took their
departure. What did the law, so outrageously broken,

A Wild Scot of Galloway. 1 3

do in the case ? Nothing. William Gordon, dreading a
recurrence of the onfall, and justly afraid for his life,
thought it best to seek safety in another part of the
country, where he remained for some while ; but his
mother still kept her place.

William was quite right in judging that M'Culloch
would return like the dog to his vomit. Next year and
the year after, he and his emissaries renewed their
attacks. On one occasion they treated the old lady in
the most unmanly and savage manner ; they " did first
beat her almost to death with the stilt wherewith she
walked, and then dragged her out of the house and left
her upon the dunghill ! " This was the form of
Galwegian eviction upon impetrated "Letters"! At
another visit, the ruffians behaved with equal inhumanity,
dragging the infirm woman out of the house and flinging
her down in the open field, and then wantonly breaking
and destroying everything within doors. It was perhaps
at this time, whilst the house was being ransacked, that
Myretoun discovered the title-deeds of Cardiness and
took possession of them brew manu to strengthen his
assumed claim. Still, despite all his violence, the lady
would not " flit and remove herself." So he came back
again on another day. She was in bed, and he and his
gang " did keep her from sleep as well as meat ; and,
further, did throw down water and other liquid matters
upon her, so that she was forced to retire and shelter
herself within the bounds of the kitchen chimney for her
safety." At intervals of weeks, Myretoun persistently
returned, continuing his course of barbarity. He sought
to murder the lady's two son's, and seized " all her rents,
corns, goods, and gear, whereupon she could have

14 Narratives from Scottish History.

lived." In the end, worn out by such prosecution, she
burst a blood-vessel and died.

Appeal was made to the Privy Council of Scotland,
who, after pottering over the case, passed sentence of
fine and imprisonment upon the depredators ; but it was
never carried into effect. Myretoun, however, ceased
his attacks, and the Gordons kept possession of
Cardiness.

Time mellows wine, but it did not mellow the spirit of
the M'Cullochs. " As the auld cock craws, the young
ane learns ; " and so it proved with them. Sir Alex-
ander's two sons were indurated in lawlessness by his
example ; and when Godfrey, the eldest, succeeded on
his father's death to the lands and baronetcy, he speedily
showed that, like Rehoboam, he would make his little
finger thicker than his father's loins. Prodigality and
profligacy gradually involved him over head and ears in
debt. His creditors took steps to adjudicate and sell
his estate, the value of which, however, was not con-
sidered equal to his obligations. But Sir Godfrey, for a
space, boldly kept his creditors at bay, defying them to
do their worst.

Eventually reduced to extremity, the knight cast about
for some means of livelihood. When James II. came to
the throne, our desperate hero conceived that by making
a feint of perversion to Rome, he might propitiate the
bigoted King's favour. Accordingly, he sent his eldest
son to the Roman Catholic School established in the
Palace of Holy rood — the result being that he soon
obtained, by royal order, a grant of five hundred merks
annually out of his lands, and was allowed to occupy ad
interim his house of Bardarroch. On the 2ist April,
1685, the Privy Council appointed him one of the new

A Wild Scot of Galloway. 15

Commissioners of Justiciary, for trying and punishing
Covenanting recusants in the southern -and western
shires. It was by this Commission that at Wigton. on
1 3th April — eight days before M'Culloch's appointment
— Margaret Lauchlison and Margaret Wilson were tried
and sentenced to be drowned. Thus, as a " prosecutor,"
Sir Godfrey added to his already evil-enough reputation.

The grant of five hundred merks yearly secured the
needy baronet from sheer destitution ; but not content,
he proceeded to circumvent his creditors by ultroneously
lifting the rents of the estate, cutting down and selling
the trees thereon, and withholding the title-deeds. In
July, 1689, his conduct was brought before the Privy
Council, who ordained him to deliver up the titles and
remove from Bardarroch House, but at the same time
assigned him an annual aliment of six hundred merks
out of the rents. Sir Godfrey gladly took the six
hundred merks, but in no respect did he obey the Coun-
cil's orders. A warrant of ejectment was issued against
him ; but where was the power to enforce it? Not cer-
tainly within the bounds of wild Galloway.

In the midst of this embroglio, Sir Godfrey's old
animosity to the Gordons of Cardiness blazed out
afresh. William Gordon, the assaulted in former days,
had now come by succession into the Cardiness heri-
tage, and lived at Bush o' Bield. He had neither wife
nor child ; and his niece, Elizabeth Gordon, who was
his next of kin, was the spouse of William Stewart, Laird
of Castle-Stewart. Gordon had poinded and impounded
some cattle belonging to two persons, his debtors, who
straightway went to Sir Godfrey, as the true laird of
Cardiness, and besought him to help them in recovering

1 6 Narratives from Scottish History.

their bestial. He eagerly caught at the chance of
gratifying his long-hoarded vengeance.

On Thursday, 2nd October, 1690, the knight armed
himself with a loaded gun, and, in company with the
two debtors, repaired to the house of Bush o' Bield ;
and, having reached the place, was told at the gate that
Gordon was at home, upon which he directed the servant
to inform his master that a person outside desired to
speak with him. Evidently the servant did not know
the visitor, otherwise he would have put his master on
his guard. A sermon was to be preached that day in
Anwoth Kirk — a small, confined edifice, built in 1626;
and Mr. Michael Bruce was incumbent, having been
admitted in 1689. Gordon was making ready to attend
the service ; but, on receiving the treacherous message,
he came out to the gate, and must have started on seeing
who it was that awaited him. Some short colloquy took
place concerning the poinded cattle, which apparently
were in the yard, and which Gordon refused to give up.
Upon this, Sir Godfrey presented the gun at him and
fired. The shot broke one of the victim's legs below
the knee, and he fell to the ground. The assassin,
advancing, stood over him and exclaimed — " Dog ! I
have now avenged myself ! " When the servants ran to
lift their master, M'Culloch not only prevented them by
deadly threats, but savagely ordered the cattle to be
driven over the fallen man — u the dog," as he wickedly
called him. The two debtors, horrified at the deed, left
the murderer, and never saw his face again for more than
six long years.

His dastardly purpose accomplished, Sir Godfrey
quitted the spot at his leisure. About half-a-mile dis-
tant, at a place called Goatend, he entered the house of

A Wild Scot of Galloway. 17

a man named Samuel Brown, where he boasted to the
inmates of what he had done at Bush o' Bield. He
stayed till word came that Gordon was mortally
wounded and would not live many hours. This news
struck the assassin with consternation ; and, fearing that
the countryside would rise upon him, he consulted his
own safety by taking to the road with all speed. Within
five or six hours, William Gordon expired.

Galloway — nay, broad Scotland itself — was too hot to
hold the assassin, and he knew it. He made his way to
the Continent, ridding wild Galloway of its wildest pest.

How the fugitive managed to subsist in foreign parts
is unknown ; but several years of exile passed over his
head. At length, thinking that all danger of being called
to account was obviated by the lapse of time, he came
across to England. Indeed, it seemed as though the
avenger of blood was pacified ; for the Laird of Castle-
Stewart made offer that, if the Cardiness titles were
restored to him, he would use his utmost influence to
procure the murderer's pardon. Sir Godfrey was mad
enough to reject this offer with disdain. Moreover, he
had the temerity to come down in disguise to Edinburgh
in the month of December, 1696, where he took obscure
lodgings, and assumed the name of Mr. Johnstoun.
What object he expected to attain cannot be divined.
Presuming that he was unrecognisable, he ventured to
attend church one Sunday ; but his careful disguise was
penetrated by the keen eye of a Galloway gentleman, one
of his creditors, who, starting up in his pew, exclaimed
in a voice of thunder — " Shut the doors, there's a
murderer in the house ! " Sir Godfrey was pointed out,
seized, and hurried to the Tolbooth.

There he lay a prisoner until Tuesday, the i6th

1 8 Narratives from Scottish History.

February, 1697, when he was brought before the High
Court of Justiciary upon an indictment at the instance
of Elizabeth Gordon, niece and nearest of kin to the
deceased William Gordon of Cardiness, and William
Stewart of Castle-Stewart, her husband, as also at the
instance of Sir James Stewart, His Majesty's Advocate,
for His Highness' interest, charging him (the panel) with
the assassination of William Gordon. He pled not
guilty ; but the proof adduced against him was clear
and conclusive, especially the evidence of the two owners
of the poinded cattle. He was found guilty. The
following are the jury's verdict and the sentence pro-
nounced by the Lords : —

THE VERDICT OF ASSIZE.

The said day the persons who passed upon the Assize of Sir
Godfrey M'Culloch, returned their Verdict in presence of the saids
Lords whereof the tenor follows :--

The Assize having elected Sir William Binning of Walliford,
their Chancellor, and Mr. George Rome, their Clerk, they in one
voice Finds it proven by the testimonie of the Witnesses adduced,
that the Pannell Sir George M'Culloch of Myretoun, did give the
deceast William Gordon of Cardiness a shot in the leg, beneath
the garter, by which his leg was brock : and Finds it also Proven
by the concurring testimonie of the Witnesses adduced, that the
said deceast William Gordon of Cardiness dyed that same night.
Sic sub, William Binning, Chancellor, George Rome, Clerk.

DOOM.

The Lords Justice Clerk and Commissioners of Justiciarie having
considered the Verdict of Assize above written : They therefore, by
the mouth of John Ritchie, Dempster of Court, Decern and
Adjudge the said Sir Godfrey M'Culloch to be taken to the
Mercat Cross of Edinburgh, upon Fryday the fyfth day of March
next to come, betwixt two and four o'clock in the afternoon, and

A Wild Scot of Galloway. 19

there to have his head severed from his body, and all his moveable
goods and gear to be escheat and inbrought to his Majesty's use,
which is pronounced for doom.

Sic Sub. AD. COCKBURN. C. CAMPBELL.

DAVID HOME. Jo. LAWDER.

J. HOPE. J. FALCONER.

But Sir Godfrey did not lose his head on the after-
noon appointed. On the previous day, the 4th March,
he petitioned the Lords for a respite, setting forth that
believing his crime would have been condoned by the
lapse of years, he was " exceedingly surprised and
unprepared to die." A respite was granted till Friday,
the 26th of March, when he was brought to the Cross
of Edinburgh and beheaded by the axe of the "Scottish
Maiden."' The following speech he delivered on the
scaffold : —

THE LAST SPEECH of Sir Godfrey M'Culloch of Myreton,
Knight and Baronet, who was beheaded at the Cross of
Edinburgh, the twenty-six day of March, 1697.

" I am brought here, good people, to give satisfaction to justice
for the slaughter of William Gordon, designed of Catdines, and
therefore I am obliged as a dying man, to give a faithful and true
account of the matter.

" I do declare in the sight of God I had no design against his
life, nor did I expect to see him when I came where the accident
happened. I came there contrair to my inclination, being pressed
l}y these two persons who were the principal witnesses against me
(they declaring he was not out of bed), that I might relieve their
goods he had poinded : I do freely forgive them, and I pray
heartily God may forgive them for bringing me to that place.

" When I was in England, I was oft-times urged by several
persons who declared they had commission from Castle- Stewart
and his Lady (now the pursuers for my blood) that I might give up
the papers of these lands of Cardines, whereupon they promised

2O Narratives from Scottish History.

not only a piece of money but also to concur for procuring me a
Remission ; and* I have been several times since in the country
where the misfortune happened, and where they lived, but never
troubled by any of them ; although now after they had got them-
selves secured in these lands without me, they have been very
active in the pursuit, untill at last they have got me brought to
this place.

" I do acknowledge my sentence is just, and does not repine ;
for albeit it was only a single wound in the leg, by a shot of small
hail, which was neither intended nor could be foreseen to be
deadly ; yet I do believe that God in his justice hath suffered me
to fall in that miserable accident, for which I am now to suffer,
because of my many other great and grievous unrepented for sins ;
I do therefore heartily forgive my judges, accusers, witnesses, and
all others who have now, or at any time, injured me, as I wish to
be forgiven.

" I recommend my wife and poor children to the protection of
the Almighty God, who doth take care of and provide for the
widow and fatherless ; and prays that God may stir up and enable
their friends and mine to be careful of them.

"I have been branded as being a Roman Catholick, which I al-
together disown, and declare, as the words of a dying man, who
am instantly to make my appearance before the Great Tribunal of
the Great God, that I die in the true Catholick reformed Protestant
religion, renouncing all righteousness of my own or any others,
relying only upon the merits of CHRIST JESUS, through whose
blood I hope to be saved, and whom I trust will not only be my
Judge but also Advocate with the Father for my redemption.

"Now, Dear spectators, as my last request, again and again, I
earnestly desire and by the assistance of your fervent prayers, that
although I stand here condemned by man, I may be absolved
before the tribunal of the great God, that in place of this scaffold,
I may enjoy a throne of glory ; that this violent death may bring
me to a life of glorious rest, eternal in the heavens ; and that in
place of all these spectators, I may be accompanyed with an
innumerable company of saints and angels, singing Halhlujah of
the great King to all eternity.

" Now, O Lord, remember me with that love thou bearest to
thy own, and visit me with thy salvation, that I may see the good

A Wild Scot of Galloway. 21

of thy chosen ones, and may glory in thine inheritance. Lord
Jesus, purge me from all my sins, and from this of blood-guiltiness,
wash me in thy own blood. Great are my iniquities, but greater
are the mercies of God ! O let me be amongst the number of those
for whom Christ died ; be thou my advocat with the Father. Into
thy hands do I commend my spirit ; come Lord Jesus, come and
receive my soul. Amen.

"SlC SUBSCRIBITUR. SlR GODFREY M'CULLOCH."

A strange story of Galloway superstition is related by
Sir Walter Scott in his essay on the " Fairy Mythology ''
in the Border Minstrelsy, bearing that Sir Godfrey was
not executed, but carried off, at the last moment, to
Fairyland !

As this Gallovidian gentleman was taking the air on horseback,
near his own house, he was suddenly accosted by a little old man,
arrayed in green, and mounted upon a white palfrey. After
mutual salutation, the old man gave Sir Godfrey to understand,
that he resided under his habitation, and that he had great reason
to complain of the direction of a drain, or common sewer, which
emptied itself into his chamber of dais. Sir Godfrey Macculloch
was a good deal startled at this extraordinary complaint ; but
guessing the nature of the being he had to deal with, he assured
the old man, with great courtesy, that the direction of the drain
should be altered ; and caused it to be done accordingly. Many
years afterwards, Sir Godfrey had the. misfortune to kill, in a fray,
a gentleman of the neighbourhood. He was apprehended, tried,
and condemned. The scaffold, upon which his head was to be
struck off, was erected upon the Castlehill of Edinburgh ; but
hardly had he reached the fatal spot, when the old man, upon his
white palfrey, pressed through the crowd, with the rapidity of
lightning. Sir Godfrey, at his command, sprang on behind him ;
the " good neighbour" spurred his horse down the steep bank, and
neither he nor the criminal were ever again seen.

Perhaps the respite of three weeks may have had some-
thing to do with the origination of this absurd story.

22 Narratives from Scottish History.

Although Sir Godfrey, in his Last Speech, spoke of
his wife, he had never been married ; " but he left
behind him several illegitimate children, who, with their
mother, removed to Ireland on the death of their
father. One of his grand-children suffered capital
punishment in that country for robbery, about the
year 1760.*

* The Scottish Nation, vol. ii., p. 712 ; M'Kerlie's Galloway,
pp. 219-222 ; New Statistical Account of Wigtonshire, pp. 225-
227 ; and of the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, pp. 376-377 ;
The History of Galloway: Kirkcudbright, 1841, vol. ii., p. 329,
Appendix, p. 52 ; Chambers's Domestic Annals of Scotland, vol.
ii., p. 321 ; vol. iii., p. 174; Maclaurin's Criminal Cases, p. 15 ;
Scott's Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, vol. ii., p. 316; Murray's
Life of Samuel Rutherford, p. 358.

II. — The Mystery of Queen
Anne's Jewels.

Jewels . . .

Stol'n by my daughter ! Justice ! find the girl !

— The Merchant of Venice.

ANNE of Denmark, consort of our King James VI.r
soon evinced an inordinate passion for costly jewellery,
articles of which she frequently lavished on her favourites :
and this extravagance now and again involved her in
debts which her meagrely-filled purse was unable to
discharge.

When Her Majesty came to Holyrood, the principal
goldsmith and jeweller in Edinburgh was George Heriot,
father of the more famous George who founded the
Hospital. Young Heriot began business on his own
account, in his native city, as goldsmith and jeweller,
about 1586, after taking to himself a wife. He set ur>
house in the Fishmarket Close, south side of the High
Street, amid "very ancient and fish-like smells," and
had his shop, booth, or kraim near bye, at the " Lady's
Steps," at the north-east end of St. Giles' Church, but
subsequently flitted to its west end. From a small
beginning his business grew extensive and lucrative,

23

24 Narratives from ScottisJi History.

King James dealt with him for jewellery and loans of
money ; and Queen Anne was not long in bettering her
consort's example. " Jingling Geordie," as the King
familiarly nicknamed him, was appointed, on lyth July,
1597, as the Queen's Goldsmith, and proclaimed as such
by the Heralds with their trumpets at the Cross of
Edinburgh. It is told by Heriot's biographer, Dr. Steven,
that "when Her Majesty was desirous of procuring an
advance of money, or some new trinkets, whether for
personal use or for gifts, it was no unusual thing to
pledge with " her official goldsmith " the most precious
of her jewels"; and a letter from the King, dated at
Falkland, i3th June, 1599, orders payment to George
Heriot of a sum for which "the Queen's jewels were
engaged." James himself, on 4th April, 1601, appointed
"Jingling Geordie" as his Jeweller: and a chamber in
Holyrood Palace was allotted to him where he could
deal conveniently and quietly with his royal patrons.
"It has been computed," says Dr. Steven, "that during
the ten years which immediately preceded the accession
of King James to the throne of Great Britain, Heriot's
bills for the Queen's jewels alone could not amount to
less than ^50,000 sterling.''

On the English succession falling to King James, the
royal jeweller soon followed the southward track of so
many of his impecunious countrymen, who hoped to
mend their broken fortunes in the " land of promise."
He established himself in a prominent locality of London,
" dwelling foreanent the new Exchange." His transac-
tions with the Queen continued. On one occasion she
authorised him to pawn certain jewels of which she had
"lost conceit," to meet the sum of ^"1000, being the
value of several pendant diamonds, ambergrease, civet

The Mystery of Queen Anne's Jewels. 25

and musk which she had received from him. Eventually
Her Majesty became drowned in debt — her jointure
being but as a drop in the bucket. Heriot was her chief
creditor. The weight of her liabilities pressed so heavily
upon Anne's mind that about the winter of 1609 she
lost her natural vivacity of spirits and sunk into a deep
melancholy. To liquidate her debts a sum of ^£20,000
sterling had to be drawn out of the public treasury, and
also ,£3000 pounds a year added to her jointure. She
has been described as "an intriguing and artful princess,
who had but little regard for the honour and dignity of
her husband or the welfare of his subjects."

We now come to a strange affair connected with the
Queen's jewels.

Two of the royal servants who appear to have accom-
panied the Court from Scotland, and held their places
for several years afterwards in London, were John
Buchanan, designated "Serjeant of His Majesty's But-
lery," and his wife, Margaret H^rtsyde, a favourite
waiting-woman to the Queen, of whose jewels she was
entrusted with the charge. This pair, having profited
by their service at Court, came down to Scotland some-
time in the year 1607, whether to stay, or only to enjoy
what would now be called "a holiday tour," is not clear.
But, at any rate, they assumed a grand style, driving
about in grand style in a carriage drawn by white horses,
and negotiating for the purchase of land. Suddenly,
like a bolt from the blue, a prosecution before the Scot-
tish Court of Justiciary was instituted against Margaret,
upon the charge that she had abstracted pearls and
jewels belonging to her royal mistress ; and being
arrested, she was imprisoned in the Castle of Blackness.

The story of this case is peculiarly curious, as being
3

26 Narratives from Scottish History.

an instance of what sort of justice was frequently ad-
ministered in Scotland, when the royal hand interposed
to sway the scales. Margaret was judicially examined
on 5th October and 3rd November, 1607, and upon her
alleged confession a Dittay or Libel was framed, and she
and her husband, " for his interest " only as such — no
share in the crime libelled being imputed to him, though
he was likewise cast into prison — were indicted for trial
in the Tolbooth of Linlithgow on yth May, 1608. On
the preceding 25th April, Margaret and her husband
petitioned the Privy Council that Counsel might be
assigned to them for their defence; and accordingly
four advocates were nominated to that duty, and three
friends were also allowed to visit and assist the panels.
The Court was adjourned till Tuesday, 3151 May, when
it was held in Linlithgow Tolbooth. The judge was
Mr. William Hairt of Preston, Justiciarum Deputatum —
Justice Depute — who had four assessors, Lords Bal-
merino, Abercorn, and Linlithgow, and Sir Peter Young,
His Majesty's Elimosinar or Almoner.

Margaret was placed at the bar. Amongst the " Pre-
locutors " who appeared for her in defence, were Mr.
Robert Buchanan, minister at the kirk of Ceres, and Mr.
William Buchanan, minister of Methven — presumably
relatives, perhaps brothers, of her husband. The In-
dictment charged her with having, during the time of
her service in the Royal Household from 1603 to 1607,
stolen and detained from the Queen " ane pearl of the
value and price of ;£no sterling, pertaining to her
Majesty, together with divers other pearls, precious
stones, jewels and goldsmith work, likewise pertaining to
his Majesty's dearest spouse, worth the sum of ^300
sterling " : and it was also alleged that the panel had

The Mystery of Queen Anne's Jewels. 27

confessed abstracting from the Queen " ane great pearl,"
which she sold for ;£no sterling, after she " had pre-
sented the same, hung at ane diamond, to be sold, to her
Majesty's self." This was the pearl first libelled. There
now, we have the gravamen of the accusation, which, it
has been said, had been trumped up to punish her for
disclosing certain Court intrigues. "The courtiers
talked," says Sir James Balfour in his Annals of Scotland,
"that it was for revealing some of the Queen's secrets to
the King, which a wise chambermaid would not have
done." Whatever it was for, the King was angrily bent
upon it.

Margaret produced a " Letter " on her own part, in the
following terms : —

I, Margaret Hartsyde, acknowledging my long captivity, and
that I have been separated from my husband, divers times examined
and demanded upon sundry weighty matters and articles, to the
which I was forced to answer, not being well resolved, but by the
contrary, being heavily troubled by apprehension (imprisonment)
of my husband, myself, warding of our persons, and seizing upon
our haill goods ; my Depositions not perfectly known to me, and
I being a woman, juris ignara (ignorant of law), not having so
good memory as is requisite in such a weighty cause ; I desire that
now, being a free person, exhibit in judgment (presented in Court),
my Declaration and Deposition may be produced, to the effect that
I may reduce myself to a perfect memory : and if my Declaration
be set down according to the truth, I am content to abide thereat ;
otherwise, in case there be anything omitted or erroneously declared,
that I may be heard to correct my error and add thereto whatso-
ever is omitted : And in case of non-production of my said
Declaration and Depositions, to the effect foresaid, I, by this
presents, revoke whatsumever Deposition made by me, concerning
the Libel and Dittay therein contained, and haill contents thereof :
And protest, in case the said Deposition be produced, at any time
hereafter, in this Judgment, that the same be openly read in my
presence, to the effect foresaid.

28 Narratives from Scottish History.

The case was continued till next next day, at eight
o'clock in the morning, at which diet it was resumed.
The Lord Advocate declared that he insisted not against
John Buchanan, but only as the panel's husband, for his
interest. The Counsel for the defence proponed learned
and lengthened objections to the relevancy of the libel,
but the Court found it relevant, and the Deposition was
produced. The debate was then renewed. The panel's
Counsel contended that " this dittay cannot be put to an
assize, because of the law, ane servant of credit having
the custody of his Majesty's gudes, being willing to
render an account of his intromissions, never having
committed any violent deed, cannot be accused of theft,
the intromission, fra the beginning, being lawful : but
true it is that Margaret Hartsyde, as is confessed in the
libel, both the years libelled, and divers years of before,
was, like as she is presently, her Majesty's servant undis-
charged, with credit, and willing to give account of her
intromissions, never having committed ony violent deed'' :
farther, the first-mentioned pearl was sold by her " to
George Heriot, her Majesty's principal Jeweller, and if
there had been an intention of theft in the panel's mind,
it cannot be presumed that she would have sold the
same to the Jeweller, whom she knew would shew the
same again to her Majesty, but by the space of divers
years thereafter remained in her Majesty's service in
great favour and credit."

No proof was adduced except the woman's own de-
position, in which she swore, with her "great oath," that
" at her first coming from Court to Scotland, she had
delivered to her Majesty all the jewels of which she had
the charge," but that she had sold "the g.eat pearl"
which was affixed to a diamond as a pendant. The

The Mystery of Queen Anne's Jewels 29

issue of the trial was that the assize or jury found " the
said Margaret Hartsyde to be fyled, culpable, and con-
vict of the unlawful and undutiful substracting and
detaining" from the Queen, the pearl valued at £150
sterling, and the other pearls, etc. ; but, by a majority,
found the panel " to be clenged of the stealing of the
said pearl, together with the remanent pearls, precious
stones, jewels, and goldsmith work foresaid." Before
sentence being given, the case was submitted to the
King tor his decision, to whom also the panel's lawyers
sent a statement of their pleas.

Two answers came from the King, both dated at
Theobalds, 20th July. The first, addressed to the
Justice General, etc., set forth '* that howsoever the
assize acquit her [the panel] of the crime of theft, yet we
most conclude that she has dealt so dishonestly herein
as we account her as worthy to be repute and declared
infamous (like as it is our pleasure that ye declare her to
be so), as if she had been directly convict of theft : that
she shall repay the full value of the pearl, etc., and re-
main in the Castle of Blackness until she give security
for the payment '' : and that finally she should be
banished to the Orkney Islands, " there to remain, and
not exceed the bounds thereof, during her lifetime."
The other letter, addressed to the Privy Council, was
couched in very indignant terms, calling the panel's
lawyers " those pettifoggers," and commanding that
"except they give a better answer than we think they
can give, you commit them to ward." The Council,
however, showed better sense by cautiously allowing that
matter to drop.

The Court sat again at Linlithgow, on Tuesday, 3oth
August, and, in accordance with the royal instructions,

30 Narratives from Scottish History.

declared Margaret Hartsyde infamous ; decerned her to
pay the sum of ,£400 sterling, or ^4800 Scots, as the
liquidate value of the whole of the jewels libelled ; and
sentenced her to be confined in the Isles of Orkney for
life. John Dalzell, burgess of Edinburgh, became her
caution and surety for payment of the money within
fifteen days, and also that she should banish herself in
Orkney within forty days.

In pursuance of her sentence, and within the allotted
space of time, Margaret repaired to Orkney, accompanied
by her husband, who seemingly was compelled to share
her exile. But he soon petitioned the Privy Council
'* to be relieved of his ward," as he had "committed no
offence;" whereupon they, in December 1608, craved
the King's " special discretion and warrant " concerning
him. His Majesty returned an answer, dated Whitehall,
2yth April, 1609, stating that 'f other more weighty
business " had caused his delay ; that he considered
there arose so many presumptions of John Buchanan's
complicity in his wife's guilt in regard of the gain
acquired by the " filching and embezzling of the said
jewels," that there seemed small reason to hasten his
relief, " he being in a manner of freedom already, re-
maining with his wife, and not constrained within the
compass of any small circuit, having the whole island of
Orkney comprehended within his confining." But the
King "being now importuned by the petitions and suits
of one John Dalzell,'' the cautioner at the trial, who
complained that unless John Buchanan was set free to
come to Edinburgh before next Whitsunday and take
order with his affairs so as to reimburse the petitioner in
the ^400 sterling as the value of the jewels, the latter
would be utterly ruined — the Council were directed to

The Mystery of Queen Anne's Jeivels. 31

make inquiry whether that sum was the only debt which
threatened Dalzell with ruin, and if they found so, that
they should enlarge Buchanan, but under the prohibition
of his going beyond three miles southward of Edinburgh.
We may suppose that the enlargement as to Buchanan's
coming to Edinburgh was granted. The King, on nth
April, 1611, wrote to the Council that "with the special
consent and goodwill of the Queen," he directed them
to give Buchanan liberty at his pleasure to remain in
any part of our kingdom there benorth Forth : " and
this was accordingly done by warrant of the Council on
1 8th April.

Seven years more passed over Margaret Hartsyde's
head in her Orcadian banishment ; and her husband is
next heard of in 1618, when, on 26th March, a Royal
Warrant was issued releasing him from all restraint
within Scotland. Justice, though tardy, was about to
make the unhappy couple full amends. Queen Anne,
after a protracted illness, died of dropsy, at Hampton
Court, on Tuesday, 22nd March, 1619, in the forty-sixth
year of her age ; and her death seems to have changed
the fortunes of the Buchanans. On the 22nd of the
same month, a Royal License was sent out restoring
Margaret and her husband to their former liberty, and
allowing them to repair at their pleasure to any part of
the King's dominions.

As this stage Dr. Masson, the able and acute Editor
of the Privy Council Register, makes the following
suggestive observafion : — "As there was always some
mystery about the affair of the stealing of the jewels, we
wonder whether Queen Aune, in her long illness before
her death, may not have had some compunctions of con-
science about the treatment of her two old servants in

32 Narratives from Scottish History.

connection with that business, and whether the late Act
in favour of the husband, and this in favour of both hus-
band and wife, may not been occasioned so." But we
may further suggest that if there was truth in the rumour
that Margaret Hartsyde whispered in the King's ear
some of the Queen's secrets, Her Majesty, on discovering
the infidelity, may have vented her spleen on the im-
prudent waiting-woman by accusing her of theft ; and a
death-bed may have brought compunction and confes-
sion. Moreover, is there anything outre in the supposi-
tion that the Queen, whose frequent pledging and pawn-
ing for needful cash and for new trinkets we have already
seen, may have employed Margaret to pawn or sell the
very pearls and jewels said to be abstracted ; and that
Margaret forbore to disclose this in her own defence, for
fear of intensifying the Queen's anger against her ? The
story told by the King's Advocate at the trial does
not look very feasible — " that the panel, to make Her
Majesty to misken her own great pearl caused hang the
same to a diamond, and offered to sell the same to Her
Majesty as a jewel not pertaining to herself ! "

The King was neither niggard nor slack in making
ample reparation to the Buchanans, who now regained
the royal favour. His Majesty issued a missive from
Royston, dated i5th November, 1619, addressed to the
Justice-General of Scotland, stating that " whereas our
trusty and loyal servitrix, Margaret Hartsyde, the
spouse of Sir John Buchanan, knight, was, by the sinis-
terous information of certain her unfriends for the time,
pursued criminally before you ; and being put to an
assize, was acquit and assoilzied of that special point of
her indictment, which of the law sustained the same to
be relevant to be tried and cognosced, and only was

Tlie Mystery of Queen A nne's Jewels. 3 3

found guilty of certain adminicles insert in her dittay for
qualification of her alleged crime : " and that the " doom
and sentence being maist humbly, and with great
patience and modesty, embraced and underlien by her,
and her behaviour continually sinsyne being very duti-
ful ; therefore, and that the foresaid doom given out
against her may not be a precedent, nor have force here-
after, it is our gracious will and pleasure that the fore-
said declaration of the said Margaret Hartsyde to be
infamous, insert in her process, be halden as delete furth
thereof, and in noways to be extracted or given to ony
person or persons, in time coming, but that this our
Warrant and Declaration be insert in our Registers of
Adjournal, for reponing of her to her fame against the
same sentence." Sir James Balfour did not fail to men-
tion this act of grace in his Annales.

Nor did the royal favour stop there. More was done
to atone for former injustice and oppression. The
honour of knighthood was conferred on John Buchanan,
and soon afterwards he was promoted. to an important
appointment under the Scottish Government. In 1620,
an attempt was made to remedy the disorders and
abuses which had long prevailed in Orkney and Shet-
land through the tyranny of the late Patrick, Earl of
Orkney ; and a Commission was nominated to inquire
into the state of affairs in the islands and to report to
the Scottish Privy Council. The Commissioners were
George Graham, Bishop of Orkney; Sir John Buchanan,
Knight ; and William Bruce of Sym bister. They seem
to have fulfilled their duties satisfactorily. In 1622, Sir
John Buchanan was granted a Tack and Assedation of
the King's rents, duties, and grassum of Orkney and
Shetland for five years, from the term of Whitsunday,

34 Narratives from Scottish History.

for the tack-duty of 45,000 merks annually. He was
proclaimed as Sheriff and Justice in the islands ; and all
the King's castles and houses there were ordered to be
surrendered to him, namely — the place, fortalice, and
palace of Birsay, and the house called the Newhouse,
both in Orkney ; and the castle, tower, and fortalice of
Skellowa, and the house of Swyneburgh at the Ness,
both in Shetland. He also obtained a Tack of "the
custom and bulyeon " of the islands. The Privy Council
ordered him, as chamberlain of the islands, to pay yearly
the stipends of some poor Orkney ministers, amounting
to ;£i6oo, so as to save them the trouble and expense
of coming south for payment of the same.

It was said of the Buchanans, after they came down
from London, that they were intending to purchase some
landed property. They ultimately accomplished their
desire by becoming laird and lady ot a small estate in
Fife, bordering on the south-east side of the Firth of
Tay. On the 25th July, 1632, King James ratified a
charter by Archbishop Spottiswoode of St. Andrews,
with consent of the chapter thereof, etc., dated at
Dairsie, i5th May, same year, of the lands and town of
Scotscraig, and others, in the regality of St. Andrews
and sheriffdom of Fife, to Sir John Buchanan, Knight,
and Margaret Hartsyde, his spouse, in vitali redditu
(in liferent), and Margaret Buchanan, their eldest lawful
daughter, and the lawful heirs of her body, whom fail-
ing, Katharine Buchanan, their second lawful daughter,
and the lawful heirs of her body, whom failing, the said
Sir John's heirs and assignees whomsoever.* This

* It is probable that Sir John and Mr. William Buchanan,
minister of Methven, who supported him and his wife at the trial,
in 1608, were near relations, if not brothers. The minister, who

The Mystery of Queen Anne's Jewels. 35

estate is said to have taken its name from the Scotts of
Balwearie.

Sir John is territorially designated "of Scotscraig" in
a Commission to him as Sheriff of Orkney, and five co-
adjutors, as Justices, issued by the Privy Council at
Edinburgh on 2oth February, 1623, to apprehend and
try five men, accused of piracy and murder, who had
their place of reset in the isle of Sanday, where they kept
their plundered goods. Again, on 6th March following,
the Council commissioned Sir John to apprehend several
furgitives at the horn for attacking the house of Faich-
field, who had fled to Orkney.

In 1624, Sir John and Bishop Graham of Orkney
were appointed judges to try an important case against
a certain Ninian Niven, Notary Public in Shetland, for
alleged oppression of the King's subjects there. It was
brought at the instance of Niven's uncle, James Mowat
of Ur. The Court, with Assessors, sat down in the
Castle of Scalloway, on 2nd September, and continued
for several days, closing on the loth. Niven defended
himself with vigour, stating recriminatory charges against
his uncle. The whole record, with the depositions of
the witnesses on both sides, was sent to the Privy Coun-
cil in Edinburgh, that judgment might be pronounced,
which, however, was never done, and Ninian was allowed
to return home. *

died in 1614, left (by his wife, Marion Lyell) an only daughter,
Katharine, who, in 1620, was married to Henry Adamson, author
of T/ie Muses Threnodie, a metrical history of Perth, published at
Edinburgh in 1638, which won the approbation of Drummond of
Hawthornden. Katharine may have been the name of the mother
of Sir John and Mr. William.

* Lengthened details of this involved case are given in the
Register of the Council, vol. xiv., pp. ciii. — cxxii, 717 — 776.

36 Narratives from Scottish History.

King James now conceived the idea that the Tack of
Orkney and Shetland should be surrendered — for what
end did not yet appear ; but measures were taken to
carry out his wish. At Edinburgh, on T4th May, 1623,
Dame Margaret Hartsyde, spouse to Sir John Buchanan,
compeared before the Lords Commissioners of his
Majesty's rule, " and she being desired to deal with her
husband to make a surrender in his Majesty's hands of
the Tack of Orkney and Shetland, she refused to meddle
in that matter, whereupon she was desired to write to
her husband to be here upon Wednesday next " — this
only allowing seven days' time, so that Sir John could
not then have been in his Sheriffdom.

Although there is no record, it is likely that Sir John
was not adverse to the surrender proposal, seeing that it
came from the King. By and bye the Privy Council
received a royal letter, dated 3rd December, same year,
desiring their advice as to whether they thought a higher
annual sum might be obtained out of the Orcadian rents
than that obtained from Sir John, which was 45,000
merks — the increase to be such as the occupiers of the
ground would be "able to pay and live as is fitting for
the tenants of our crown " ; but if no increase was prac-
ticable, would the Council deem it expedient to set the
lands in feu for the present rents? The Council, on
2oth January, 1624, wrote the King to the effect that,
owing to bad seasons, and the tenants being " for the
most part very poor people," whose living was " specially
in taking and feeding on fish," a rise of rents was not to
be thought of; but to feu the lands at the current rents
was advisable.

After all this beating about the bush, the King's main
project was communicated to the Privy Council, in a

Uie Mystery of Queen Annes Jewels. 37

letter dated 22nd August, 1624. It stated that although
Buchanan's tacks had several years yet to run, His
Majesty had feued the duties of Orkney and Shetland,
with the Stewartry thereof, to Sir George Hay of Kin-
fauns, Lord High Chancellor of Scotland (afterwards the
first Earl of Kinnoull) for the yearly payment of 40.000
merks, which was less than the present rent, " yet for
the good and faithful service done to us by him, and to
encourage him to go forward therein, we are well pleased
to grant him that small benefit by defeasing these 5000
merks yearly." On nth October following, the King
again wrote to the Council directing that the revenues
of the islands should be kept in His Majesty's coffers,
and not meddled with in any way except by his own
warrant.

Does it not look as if the British Solomon, in the
profundity of his wisdom, had repented of the Tacks to
Buchanan not long after they were granted ? At Edin-
burgh, on 3oth March, 1625, the Privy Council accepted
the transference by Sir John Buchanan and his wife of
the two Orcadian Tacks to Sir George Hay, the Chan-
cellor. In consideration of this, the Council freed and
relieved Sir John of the rent payable at Whitsunday
ensuing, under the Tack of the duties ; and of the duty
under the Tacks of the " custom and bulyeon," payable
for the last year thereof, but holding him liable in pay-
ment of the duty at Whitsunday and Martinmas next to
come.*

* Dr. Steven's Memoir of George Heriol ; Pitcairn's Criminal
Trials, vol. ii., pp. 544 — 557 ; Balfour's Annals of Scotland, vol.
ii., pp. 26, 76 ; Register of the Ptivy Council of Scotland, vol. viii.,
ix., xi., xii. , xiii. ; Register of the Great Seal of Scotland : 1620 —
!633, No. 337 ; Chambers's Domestic Annals, vol. i., p. 412.

III. — The Tournament of
Haddington.

The Tournament of Tottenham have we in mind ;
It were harm such hardiness were holden behind,

In story as we read
Of them that were doughty
And stalwart in deed.

— Percy's ' ' Reliques. ' '

Kill men i' the dark ? Where be these bloody thieves ?

—Othello.

THE great Earldom of Athol was originally erected,
nearly eight centuries ago, for a branch of the royal
house of Scotland ; and, indeed, as has been observed
by Mr. Skene, there is "strong presumption that the
family which gave a long line of kings to Scotland, from
the eleventh to the fourteenth century, took their origin
from this district, to which they can be traced before the
marriage of their ancestor with the daughter of Malcolm
the Second raised them to the throne." According to
history, it was King Edgar, who reigned from 1098 to
1107, that created this earldom (comprehending the
country of Athol, with the exception of Breadalbane),
and bestowed it upon his cousin, Madach, son of Donald
Bane (the brother of Malcolm Canmore), who twice
38

The Tournament of Haddington. 39*

usurped the Scottish crown. On Earl Madach's death,
which happened about 1150, and his son, Harald, Earl
of Orkney, having been forfeited, the lands and honours
of Athol went to Malcolm, son of Duncan, the eldest
son of Malcolm Canmore, but which line, though law-
fully entitled to the throne, was excluded from it in
favour of the younger branches • and the Athol earldom
was thus transferred, remarks Mr. Skene, "either be-
cause the exclusion of that family from the throne could
not deprive them of the original property of the family,
to which they were entitled to succeed, or as a com-
pensation for the loss of the crown." Malcolm was
succeeded by his son of the same name, who was a
liberal-handed benefactor to the Church, as testified by
his grants to the Abbeys of Scone and Dunfermline and
the Priory of St. Andrews. He left a son, Henry, wha
succeeded, and whose son died in his father's lifetime,
leaving three daughters — the eldest of whom (whose
name is unknown) married Alan de Lundin, Ostiarus
Reges ; the second, Isabel, became the wife of Thomas
de Gallovidia, brother of Alan, Lord of Galloway; and
the youngest, Ferneleith, married David de Hasting?, a
Norman knight, the descendant of the Conqueror's
steward. When Henry deceased, Alan de Lundin
obtained the Athol earldom in right of his wife ; and
she, dying without issue, the next Earl was Thomas, the
husband of Isabel. Earl Thomas died in 1231, leaving
a son, Patrick, who succeeded his father as the seventh
Earl of Athol.

It is with the untimely fate of this Earl Patrick that
we shall now concern our attention, as his death,
involved the sudden ruin of another powerful house, and
the outbreak of war between Scotland and England.

40 Narratives from Scottish History.

Contemporary with the later Earls of Athol was that
other powerful house, which possessed lands in the north
and south of Scotland. This family was Anglo-Norman :
its surname was Byset or Bisset ; and it is said to have
become established in Scotland about the time of
William the Lion, obtaining broad lands in Moray and
in the shire of Berwick. The main stem of the Bysets
was settled in Moray, on domains which in great part
were those which ultimately became the country of the
Lovat Erasers ; while it was a branch that took root on
the southern confines of the Scottish kingdom. The
Norman Conquest of England had caused a host of
Saxon fugitives to seek refuge in Scotland, and these, in
process of time, were followed by numbers of discon-
tented Norman knights and adventurers. All such
immigrants found ready welcome on the northern side
of the Tweed. The Saxons spread over the Lowlands.
The Normans, distinguished by polished manners and
bold deeds, especially won the good graces of the
Scottish sovereigns, who gave many of them lands to
attach them to the country of their adoption. Most of
the sons of the conquerors, says Thierry, the historian of
the Conquest, " were good and tried soldiers ; and the
Scottish kings took them into their service, rejoiced at
having Norman knights to oppose in the field to the
Normans of the other side of the Tweed. They
admitted these bold warriors to their intimacy, intrusted
them with high commands, and, to make their Court
more agreeable to these new guests, even studied to
introduce into the Teutonic language there spoken, a
great many Norman words and idioms." But our story
relates to the year 1242, when Alexander II. bore rule
over Scotland.

The Tournament of Haddington. 41

The head of the northern branch of the Bysets was
Sir John, " lord of Lovat and Beaufort, in the Aird-of
Altyre in Moray, of Redcasile and Ardmanoch in the
Black Isle." The Bysets had given bountifully of their
wealth to pious and charitable uses. The foundation of
the Priory of the Order of Vattis Caulium at Beaulieu
or Beauly, dating from about 1230, was chiefly due to
their munificence. One of their Norman ancestors,
Munaser Byset, Sewer to King Henry II. of England,
marking how prevalent was that loathsome disease the
leprosy (which apparently had been introduced into
Britain through the intercourse with the East consequent
on the Crusades, and was fostered by the ways of living
of the people), established an Hospital or House of
Refuge for Lepers at Maiden Bradley in Wiltshire — his
wife, Alice, an heiress, being said to have been herself
a leper. " In this country," says Sir James Y. Simpson,
" the leprosy of the Middle Ages seems to have had its
largest share of victims in the lower classes of society —
amongst the ' villagers ' or bondsmen of the times, and
the poorer peasantry and burgesses, who, when shut up
in the hospital, were obliged either to depend upon the
funds of these institutions, or to beg for their support : "
which hospitals " were intended merely as receptacles to
seclude the infected, not as houses in which a cure of
them was to be attempted."

John Byset of Lovat, following the example of his
ancestor, made a grant, about 1224, to the House of
Lepers at Rothfan, Rathven, or Ruthven, near Elgin.
By his charter he granted the patronage of the church
of Kyltalargyn, or Kiltarlity, to the church of St. Peter of
Ruthven, for the maintenance of the lepers serving God
there ; and besides he had given to the House so much
4

42 Narratives from Scottish History.

of his means that the members had promised, and by a
solemn instrument obliged themselves, to keep a chap-
lain there, ministering in sacred things, and seven lepers,
and one male domestic serving them ; while it was also
provided that when any of the lepers died, or left the
House, another should be presented by Byset or his
heirs, until the number was complete. The first charter
granting Kiltarlity church being found insufficient,
another was granted by the donor, on ipth June, 1226,
appropriating said church to the Leper House. In the
same year, he gave William, Prior of the Hospital, a
presentation to the church.

There was now every prospect that the male line of
the house of Lovat would eventually fail ; for Sir John
de Byset had three daughters, Mary, Cecilia, and
Elizabeth, but no son : and it was evident that his
death would cause a division of his possessions among
the three co-heiresses. In the south, his kinsman, Sir
William de Byset, was the head of the Berwickshire
branch, and high in favour at the Scottish Court, holding
an office in the household of King Alexander's second
queen, Mary of Couci. Both Sir William and his
nephew, Sir Walter, however, were known to bear a
grudge against Earl Patrick of Athol, and this was after-
wards remembered to their ruin.

The age of chivalry was then in its prime. The
feudal system had been introduced into England by the
Norman Conquest, and subsequently found its way
across the Scottish Border, and was engrafted on the
national institutions. Feudalism and the knightly order
mutually supported each other. The principles of
chivalry, which consisted mainly in the upholding of
truth and honour, the defence of the right, the protection

The Tournament of Haddington. 43

of the defenceless, commended themselves to every
heart, though they did not prevent the ruthless tyranny
and spoliation practised by the Conqueror's myrmidons
on the Saxon people of England. The crusading spirit
still animated Europe, and the war in Palestine con-
tinued to rage with varying results. Only in 1240 had
the Earl of Cornwall and William Longsword led an
English army to the East. Knightly adventure, especially
in the struggle with the Saracens, supplied the themes of
the lays which were sung by minstrels in baronial halls.
The aspiring youth of the time were fired by the ambition
of winning the belt and gilded spurs, which were the
insignia of knighthood. The public displays and pas-
times of chivalry were peculiarly romantic and attractive.
Foremost was the Tournament, where gallant charnpions
contested the palm of valour under the eyes of the
ladies. Sometimes these combats were fought at out-
ranee (as it was termed) with sharp lances and swords,
though the number of blows and thrusts to be given
were limited by regulations : on other occasions the
mimic war was conducted with blunted weapons : yet
frequently, in either case, the sports closed with several
of the warriors being left dead in the lists — covered with
wounds, trampled to death, or smothered in their heavy
armour : and such displays of chivalric skill and bravery,
not inaptly recalling the arena and the gladiators of
Rome, were graced by the presence of beauty, whose
applause was the highest guerdon of the contending
knights.

In the year 1242, a grand tournament — called in
olden Chronicle " a Royal Tournament, where knights
and esquires advanced themselves by valiant prowess to
win honour " — was held at the town of Haddington.

44 Narratives from Scottish History.

King Alexander, said by Buchanan to have been on his
way to England to visit Henry III., was present at the
sports ; but his consort, Queen Mary, was then on a
progress in the north. Knights from all parts of Scot-
land flocked to Haddington, and amongst others came
Earl Patrick of Athol and the southern Bysets, uncle
and nephew. Athol was in the flower of youth, trained
in all the manly and chivalric accomplishments of the
day, famed for courage and gallantry, and eager to dis-
tinguish himself in the lists. The tournament opened
with all the stately formalities : the heralds made their
proclamations : the challenges were given and answered :
courses were run by knights singly and in squadrons
against each other — such conflicts as have been depicted
in Ivanhoe, and long before that in Chaucer's page,
which " glorious John" Dryden has paraphrased in
vigorous and picturesque measure : —

At this, the challenger with fierce defy

His trumpet sounds ; the challenged makes reply ;

With clangour rings the field, resounds the vaulted sky.

Their visors closed, their lances in the rest,

Or at the helmet pointed, or the crest,

They vanish from the barrier, speed the race,

And spurring see decrease the middle space.

A cloud of smoke envelopes either host,

And all at once the combatants are lost ;

Darkling they join adverse, and shock unseen,

Coursers with coursers jostling, men with men :

As labouring in eclipse, a while they stay,

Till the next blast of wind restores the day.

They look anew : the beauteous form of fight

Is changed, and war appears a grisly sight.

Two troops in fair array one moment show'd,

The next, a field with fallen bodies strew'd :

Not half the number in their seats are found ;

But men and steeds lie grovelling on the ground.

The Tournament of Haddington. 45

The points of spears are stuck within the shield,
The steeds without their riders scour the field.
The knights, unhorsed, on foot renew the fight.

In the midst of the warlike sports, Earl Patrick of Athol
and Sir Walter de Byset engaged to run a course
together. Both were approved knights, young in arms,
and emulous of renown. The signal being given they
rushed to the encounter, with levelled lances, and plumes
streaming on the wind. They met in the centre of the
lists, and Byset was hurled from his saddle and flung
prostrate on the plain. The catastrophe struck deep
into his heart. He was the enemy of Athol, and the
resounding acclaim which hailed the victor filled the
vanquished's soul with the bitterest thoughts ; but he
dissembled his feelings, and allowed Athol to enjoy his
triumph. The tournament passed, and the gay and
chivalrous assemblage dispersed : " nevertheless," adds
the chronicler, " the end of all that pleasure and pastime
ended in sorrow."

Sir William de Byset hastened northwards to attend
on Queen Mary. Earl Patrick did not immediately
return to his home among the hills of Athol. He had
a lodging or " palace " (as it has been styled), situated
at the west end of the High Street of Haddington : and
there he abode in lordly state for some days longer.
There was no suspicion that foul play was meditated to
him ; yet a plot of the most desperate character was
hatching behind the scenes. One night, after he and
his household had retired to rest, some villains secretly
insinuated themselves into the mansion — crept to the
Earl's couch, and stabbed him to death as he lay buried
in profound slumber. So thoroughly was the work done
that not a murmur was heard. As soon as the atrocious

46 Narratives from Scottish History.

deed was consummated, the assassins set fire to the
house, trusting that by its destruction the murder of the
Earl would be concealed — that is to say, that his death
would be ascribed to the conflagration. Inflammable
materials having been plentifully scattered about the
Earl's chamber, the flames soon enveloped the " palace,"
and startled all Haddington at midnight. The fiery
element could not be subdued ; and when it had
wrought its will, and the " palace " stood a roofless,
blackened ruin, the body of the Earl was searched out,
but it was found not so much disfigured but that the
dagger-wounds by which he had perished were clearly
discernible !

That a dastardly murder had been perpetrated was
thus shown beyond doubt. The whole country rang
with a fierce cry for vengeance. Athol's friends and
allies — the Earl of March, Sir David de Hastings, and
others of noble rank — denounced the Bysets as the
authors of the crime ; for it was asserted that certain of
their retainers had been seen prowling in the vicinity of
the "palace" at Haddington shortly before the breaking
out of the fire. Although it was Walter who had been
overthrown at the tournament, yet his uncle was
signalled out as the prime instigator of the deed. This
charge was indignantly repelled by Sir William, who
appealed to the King and Queen to do him justice.
Had he not been with the Queen at Forfar on the very
night of the murder ? Both King and Queen declared
for his innocence — Mary even offered to confirm her
royal word by a solemn oath. Sir William procured
that the sentence of excommunication against the
assassins should be read in every church and chapel
throughout Scotland. But his accusers, wholly un-

The Tournament of Haddington. 47

satisfied, and powerful in their numbers, demanded
that he should be brought to trial. This demand he
met by proclaiming his readiness to meet any of them
in single combat, — choosing the ordeal of wager of
battle, because, as he said, he could not look for
justice in a court of law which would be overborne
by his enemies. No one accepted his challenge. His
trial was forced upon the King, who was equally com-
pelled to preside at the tribunal. Accordingly the
Bysets, uncle and nephew, were arraigned and pro-
nounced guilty : sentence of forfeiture and perpetual
banishment from Scotland was recorded against them ;
and furthermore, they were constrained to swear that
they would go to the Holy Land and never return, but
there, to the end of their days, pray for the soul of the
murdered Earl.

Guilty or not in their own consciences, the Bysets
left all behind them, and fled to Ireland — not with any
intention of taking the route to Palestine by way of the
Green Isle, that they might spend a life of prayer and
penance amid the scenes of Holy Writ, but with schemes
of vengeance fermenting in their minds. Soon were
their schemes developed. Walter crossed to England
and appeared at the court of Henry III., into whose ear
he poured the story of his wrongs, appealing to him
against the sentence of Alexander, who, as the alleged
vassal of the English monarch, " had no right to inflict
such punishments on his nobles without the permission
of his liege lord." Thus by artfully working on the old
and baseless claim of English paramouncy over Scot-
land, he enlisted Henry's favour, and he further stirred
him by representing Alexander as in league with France,
and as giving shelter in his kingdom to all the rebels

48 Narratives from Scottish History.

who fled out of England. By such incitements he
inflamed Henry to the point of provoking hostilities
with Scotland.

The King began his warlike designs by speedily des-
patching a letter to Alexander, complaining that he had
violated his duty as a vassal-sovereign, and that he had
allied himself with France against England, and was
giving protection to " English offenders." Alexander
replied that he owed no homage to England, and would
yield none. Both nations, therefore, prepared for war.
Henry summoned his forces. The patriotic spirit of
the Scottish people was roused by the unwarrantable
aggression on their independence, and a powerful army
mustered around the standard of their King, who
speedily marched to invade England.

Alexander's army is described by Matthew Paris, an
English historian, as being " numerous and brave : he
had a thousand horsemen," wearing armour of iron net-
work, and " tolerably mounted, though not indeed on
Spanish or Italian horses. His infantry approached to
a hundred thousand, all unanimous, all animated by the
exhortations of their clergy, and by confession, courage-
ously to fight and resolutely to die in the just defence
of their native land." The two armies advanced to a
place called Ponteland, in Northumberland. The Scots
prepared for battle by making confession to the priests
who accompanied them. But Henry, seeing so strong
and well-appointed an enemy, to whom he was superior
only in cavalry, gave his warlike ardour pause. Many
of his barons held the Scottish King in high respect,
and, justly dreading the result of an engagement, coun-
selled their sovereign to negotiate. He consented : and
through the mediation of the Earl of Cornwall and the

T/te Tournament of Haddington. 49

Archbishop of York, as envoys, terms of peace were
concluded with Alexander.

The treaty was signed at Newcastle, on the i3th
August, 1244. Nothing was definitely settled about
the claim of homage ; but a stipulation was made for
the union of the young prince of Scotland and Margaret,
the daughter of Henry, which afterwards took place in
1251. And so the armies separated without striking a
blow. The Bysets were disappointed in their hopes of
humiliating King Alexander; but their patron, King
Henry, did not turn his back upon them, although he
failed in his expedition against Scotland. He gave Sir
William extensive lands in the Irish county of Antrim,
and there the family long flourished : and about the
beginning of the fifteenth century, Marjory, the heiress
of the Bysets, wedded the son of the Lord of the Isles,
and became the ancestress of the Macdonalds, Earls of
Antrim. Sir Walter, the vanquished at the Haddington
Tournament, remembered in his latter days his oath
which he had sworn to pass to the Holy Land. Per-
chance, when years were heavy on his head, the guilt of
Athol's slaughter pressed still heavier on his soul. He
donned the pilgrim habit and sailed for Palestine never
to return.

The story of Earl Patrick and the Bysets (which we
have endeavoured to relate as perspicuously as we could
out of the various versions, which are all somewhat con-
flicting in certain of the particulars) cannot be concluded
without a parting reference to the house of Lovat.
When the assassination befel, suspicion could not fail to
attach to the northern head of the Bysets ; and Sir John
was arrested and thrown into the castle of Inverness ;
but nothing being found to criminate him, he was

$o Narratives from Scottish History.

released. As already stated, he had three daughters,
but no son. On his demise, his great possessions were
divided amongst the co-heiresses. " From Mary," the
eldest, says Professor Innes, "are descended the
Frasers, of the Lovat branch of that name." Cecilia,
the second sister, married Sir William Fenton, called
of Beaufort : and Elizabeth, the youngest, married Sir
Andrew de Bosco— a daughter of this union becoming
the ancestress of the Roses of Kilravock. As Earl
Patrick of Athol left no child, he was succeeded in his
lands and heritages by Sir David de Hastings, in right
of Fernelith, his lady.*

* Skene's History of the Highlanders ~, vol. ii., pp. 127, 139 ;
Douglas' Peerage of Scotland ; Anderson's Scottish Nation, vol. i. ;
Thierry's History of the Norman Conquest, book viii. ; Innes'
Sketches of Early Scotch History, p. 438 ; The Charters of the
Priory of Beauly (Grampian Club) ; Hollinshed's Scottish
Chronicle, vol. i., p. 395 ; Buchanan's History of Scotland,
book vii., § 57; Tytler's History of Scotland, vol. i., p. 322;
Robertson's Earldom of Atholl ; Sir James Y. Simpson's Archceo-
logical Essays, vol. ii.

IV. — The Last Coronation in
Scotland.

i.

I love the King and the Parliament,

But I love them both together :
And when they by division asunder are rent,
I know 'tis good for neither.
Whichsoe'er of those
Be victorious,

I'm sure for us no good 'twill be,
For our plagues will increase
Unless we have peace,
And the King and his realms agree.

— Alex. Brome (1645).

THE moral and religious condition of Scotland during
the period intervening between the execution of Charles I.
and the coming of Charles II. has been panegyrised in
glowing language by an ecclesiastical historian of the
time. As soon as intelligence of the King's death
reached Scotland, deeply shocking the mind of the
nation, the Covenanting Government proclaimed his
eldest son.

5*

52 Narratives from Scottish History.

This took place on 5th February, 1649: "providing
always," says the Rev. James Kirkton, in his Secret and
True History of the Church of Scotland, " that he was
not to be admitted to the exercise of his government till
he should give satisfaction for religion and peace ; nor
could they make war upon England for their King till he
and they were at a point, which was not for two years
after ; but these two years, in my opinion, were the best
that Scotland ever saw." And this author, warming on
his theme, expatiates with fervour : — " In the interval
betwixt the two kings, religion advanced the greatest
step it had made for many years ; now the ministry was
notablie purified, the magistracy altered, and the people
strangely refined. It is true, at this time hardly the
fifth part of the Lords of Scotland were admitted to sit
in Parliament, but those who did sitt were esteemed
truely godly men ; so were all the rest of the Commis-
sioners in Parliament elected of the most pious of every
corporation. Also, godly men were employed in all
offices, both civil and military : " that is to say, in plain
terms, the predominant faction packed Parliament and
public offices with their own adherents. " Scotland
hath been, even by emulous foreigners, called Phila-
delphia; and now she seemed to be in her flower."
Furthermore, " the General Assembly seemed to be the
priest with Urim and Thumim, and there were not ane
100 persons in all Scotland to oppose their conclusions ;
all submitted, all learned, all prayed, most part were
really godly, or at least counterfitted themselves Jews.
Then was Scotland a heap of wheat set about with lilies,
uniform, or a palace of silver beautifully proportioned ;
and this seems to me to have been Scotland's high

The Last Coronation in Scotland. 53

noon." * A fascinating picture truly ! But it was not
drawn in all its points with the pencil of truth : and it
has been called "an enthusiastic fable," in so far as con-
cerns the social life of the people ; for authentic records
testify to a wide-spread ignorance, gross superstition,
grosser profligacy, and an alarming prevalence of crime.
In 1643, the Presbytery of St. Andrews bemoaned the
" woeful ignorance, rudeness, stubbornness, incapacity
seen among the common people," which proceeded
" from want of schools to landward, and not putting
bairns to school where they are." t At the very time
when Scotland was " in her flower," the Synod of Fife
appointed a day of humiliation for the sins of the land,
which were specified as " the many abominable sins, as
contempt and mocking of piety, gross uncleanness,
intemperance, breach of Sabbath, swearing, injustice,
murmuring against God abounding while we are under
the Lord's afflicting hand." | To this clerical testimony
may be added that of a layman of the same period,
John Nicoll, who wrote thus, in his Diary of Public
Transactions and other Occurrences : " Under heaven
there was not greater falses [falsehood], oppression,
division, hatred, pride, malice, and envy, nor was at this
time, and divers and sundry years before (ever since the
subscribing the Covenant) ; every man seeking himself
and his own ends, even under a cloak of piety, which
did cover much knavery : " and he excepted no class of
the community ; " for all offended, from the prince to

* See also Peterkin's Records of the Kirk of Scotland, p. 626 ;
and Dr. Cunningham's Church History of Scotland, vol. ii.,
p. 172.

t New Statistical Account of Fife shire, p. 373.

I Burton's History of Scotland, vol. vii., p. 113.

54 Narratives from Scottish History.

the beggar." Again, worthy Mr. Kirkton's rose coloured
sketch looks odd when contrasted with what his
brother - divine, the Rev. Robert Law, states, in his
Memorial Is ; or, the Memorable Things that fell out
Within this Island of Brittain from 1638 to 1684, —
namely, that from 1638 to 1652, the Scottish ministers
generally did little else but " preach Parliaments, armies,
leagues, resolutions, and remonstrances, . . . which
occasioned a great number of hypocrites in the Church,
who, out of hope of preferment, honour, riches, and
worldly credit, took on the form of godliness, but wanted
the power of it ; " and further, " it is not to be forgotten
that, from the year 1652 to the year 1660, there was
great good done by the preaching of the gospel in the
West of Scotland, more than was observed to have been
for twenty or thirty years before, . . . which was
occasioned through ministers preaching nothing all that
time but the gospel." Moreover, Mr. Kirkton's sketch
is strangely at variance with the " Solemn Acknowledg-
ment of Publick Sins " put forth, in 1648, by the General
Assembly itself (and appended to the Confession of Faith),
— wherein it is said to be " impossible to reckon up all
the abominations that are in the land," — many of which,
however, are specified. Nor should we overlook what
Cromwell said in a Letter to the President of the
Council of State, dated at Edinburgh, 25th September,
1650, " I thought I should have found in Scotland a
conscientious people, . . . but the people generally
are so given to the most impudent lying, and frequent
swearing as is incredible to be believed." * Thus, the

* Carlyle's Oliver Cromwell's Letters and Speeches, vol. iii.,
p. 74.

77/6' Last Coronation in Scotland. 55;

Kirktonian testimony as to the high moral and religious
condition of the country must necessarily be taken cum
grano salts.

It was truly a perilous inheritance that had fallen
to the lot of Prince Charles. He being then at the
Hague, Commissioners were despatched thither to treat
with him as to the terms upon which he should obtain
the crown. Before they arrived, he had secretly signed
a Commission constituting the gallant Marquis of
Montrose as Lieutenant-Governor and Captain-General
of Scotland, with a view of his making a descent on the
Highland coast, and endeavouring by force of arms to
win the throne for his liege lord. Montrose accord-
ingly set out for foreign Courts to solicit supplies for his
enterprise. The Scots Commissioners reached Holland ;
but their negotiations dragged heavily, because of the
royal exile's repugnance to the Covenant and its party,
and because of his hopes of a restoration by the Cavaliers.
Much time was frittered away. It was the end of March,
1650, before Montrose could make his venture. He
landed in Orkney, displaying "the King's standard all
black — all full of bloody hands and swords, and a red
character or motto above, carrying revenge." Crossing
to the mainland with a scanty following of half-hearted
soldiers, he was defeated. He escaped from the rout
and wandered a fugitive in the wilds of Assynt, where
his brother-in-arms, the Earl of Kinnoull, sank down
exhausted in the desert, and perished of hunger. Then
came the betrayal by Macleod for the mean reward of
400 bolls of meal, and the Marquis was dragged to Edin-
burgh in vulgar triumph, and there done to death,
contrary to all the usages of war. The failure of every
chance of a Cavalier restoration brought Charles to

56 Narratives from Scottish History.

terms with the Covenanters, and he set sail for his
future kingdom.

The Scottish leaders were busily preparing for hosti-
lities with England. Sooth to say, the ruling faction in
England had dealt with the Scots most ungraciously —
making servile use of them as long as they were disposed
to act as useful drudges, and, when they became recal-
citrant, treating the Solemn League and Covenant with
scorn and derision. When the King's life was aimed at,
the Duke of Hamilton came forward with his " Public
Engagement," and, under authority of Parliament, raised
a force of 15,000 men to hasten to the monarch's relief.
But Argyle and the Kirk, crying out that there was a
lack of security for national rights, opposed, and did
their best to thwart the expedition. Cromwell over-
threw Hamilton at Preston, and went down to Edin-
burgh, in a friendly way, and shook hands with Argyle.
Then came the King's trial. Scottish Commissioners
were despatched to protest against his death before the
purged English Parliament ; but that high body ordered
them to be marched home under a guard ! This was
the respect which Philadelphian Scotland commanded
in her " high noon." Scotland, however, fancied that
she might have monarchy for herself, with all the securi-
ties which she desired ; and so she clung to her young
King, who was ready to swear to the Covenant that he
might reach the throne which was his by hereditary
right. Therefore the Covenanting Government, after the
breathing time afforded by Cromwell's absence in the
Irish campaign, made ready fast for war. General
David Leslie, a soldier of reputation, and the vanquisher
of Montrose at Philiphaugh, was entrusted with the
supreme military command. At the sitting of Parlia-

The Last Coronation in Scotland. 57

ment, on 22nd June, 1650, a list was passed of the
proportions of foot and horse to be raised by each shire
" to the first levy," being an army of 9749 foot and 2882
horse (six troops of horse, or 445 effective, to form every
regiment)— total 12,631. Sir James Balfour notes a
strange story which was told next dny in Edinburgh :
" That on Tuesday the 3rd [it should be the 4th] day of
June this year, 1650, it rained from the heavens drops of
blood in Ewesdale " — a parish in the district of Eskdale
Dumfries-shire — "which was certified by divers gentle-
men of good credit, inhabitants there, to the Estates of
Parliament, on Sunday, the 23rd day of this same
month." Nicoll, the diarist, says that the bloody rain
extended over three miles of country !

On that Sunday, the 23rd, King Charles arrived off
the mouth of the Spey, but was not suffered to set foot
on Scottish soil till he had formally taken the Covenant.
The Merry Monarch did so with alacrity — laughing in
his sleeve meanwhile, we may be sure— and came ashore
at the village of Garmouth, about half-a-mile above the
mouth of the river. According to the tradition of the
district, the Dutch ship which carried the King could
not get in to the little harbour, and a boat was necessary
to land the royal party ; but the boat, again, was pre-
vented, by shallowness of water, from beaching, and the
monarch was brought to land, mounted on the broad
shoulders of a brawny fisherman, named Thomas or John
Milne. The story of the royal landing has been
characteristically told by Sir Thomas Dick Lauder :
" The boat could not approach the shore sufficiently
near to admit of Charles landing dry-shod ; and Milne,
wading into the tide, turned his broad back to the King
at the side of the boat, and resting his hands on his
5 •

5 8 Narratives from Scottish History.

knees, very quietly bade His Majesty 'loup on.' ( Nay,
friend,' said the King, smiling, though somewhat
alarmed at the proposal, ' I am too great a weight for so
little a man as you.' 'Od! I may be little o' stature,'
replied Milne, looking up and laughing in Charles' face,
' but I'se be bound I'm baith strong and sturdy ; an'
mony's the weightier burden I've carried i' my day/
Amused with the man, and persuaded by those around
him that there was no danger, the King mounted on
Milne's back, and was safely landed on the boat-green.
It does not appear that Milne received any reward for
this piece of service ; " but ever afterwards he was
known as King Milne*

By yielding allegiance to " the young man, Charles
Stuart," Scotland had flung down the gage of defiance
to her southern sister. The challenge was promptly ac-
cepted, and an army of invasion, 16,000 strong, under
Oliver Cromwell, was about to march to the Borders.
The King came leisurely northwards from the Spey —
held in leading-strings, and obliged to listen daily to
long-winded preachments and exhortations. In the be-
ginning of July he was at St. Andrews ; on the 5th, he
banqueted at Cupar, and went to Falkland next day.
There he abode till the 23rd, when he made a progress
to Perth, and we learn from Sir James Balfour what
occurred there : — " His Majesty stayed at Falkland until
Tuesday, the 23rd of July, from whence he did remove
to Perth for one night, where he was feasted with all his
train by the Magistrates of the said burgh in L.-General
David Leslie's house." This house, apparently the tem-

* An Account of the Great Floods of August, z$2g, in Moray,
P- 303-

The Last Coronation in Scotland. 59

porary lodging of the General, would seem to have been
the historic edifice, Cowrie House, in which James VI.
made, as he asserted, so narrow an escape from assassin-
ation, and which became the lodging of Charles during
his subsequent residence in the Fair City. The gardens
extended down to the side of the Tay, and in the south-
east corner, and abutting upon the river, stood a round
building, highly ornamented in the interior, called the
11 Monk's Tower," presumably the " garden house on the
river," immediately to be mentioned. When Charles
came to Perth, he may have seen a hand of the " great
Montrose " surmounting one of the ports. Balfour pro-
ceeds : — " His Majesty, at his entry, was met by the
Provost and Magistrates and Council, all in mourning,
with a guard of partisans, who attended his Majesty
during his abode there, in mourning likewise. Mr.
George Hallyburton, one of the ministers of the town,
had a pretty congratulatory oration to his Majesty.
After dinner on Wednesday, his Majesty went to the
garden house on the river, wherein there was a table
covered with dessert of all kinds ; there the Provost, on
his knees, presented to his Majesty his Burgess Bill, and
another to the Duke of Buckingham " — in token of their
election as burgesses of the city. " His Majesty at my
desire, wrote in their Book of Privileges, his name and
motto thus —

"24 July, 1650.
" CHARLES R.
"Nemo me impune lacessit."

This was the second royal signature in the Guildry Book
of Perth, the first being that of James VI. After the
dessert and the civic ceremony in the garden house,

60 Narratives from Scottish History.

Charles left Perth, and reached Dunfermline the same
night. Next day, he went to " his own house," the
Castle of Stirling. Over a port of the town was the other
hand of Montrose.

As has been already alluded to, Scotland, in that age,
that " high noon " of Kirkton's, was the slave of super-
stition. The witch mania was at its height. The Par-
liament itself, on 22nd May, 1649, appointed a Com-
mittee "to try the depositions of 54 witches," and to
order their executions if they were found guilty ! Two
rascally impostors, John Kincaid and George Cathie,
designated " witch searchers," were going through town
and country, providing victims for the stake. Appari-
tions, warnings, signs and wonders were plentiful in
those days of high-wrought excitement and national
confusion. The outbreak of the Civil War, and all its
subsequent fortunes, had been prefigured by meteors,
flaming swords, and armies fighting in the night-sky ;
while unearthly sounds of drums, and trumpets, and
cannon-shots were heard on hillsides and in solitary
places. Unenlightenment could not discern that many
of such portents were attributable to natural causes ; but
others of them, if true, were utterly beyond the grasp of
philosophy. What shall we say of the following story,
which appeared in one of the diurnals of the time, under
date of Edinburgh, 4th January, 1649? "There was
lately, upon a Lord's Day, a very strange sight at St.
Johnston's [the town of Perth], at which town Lieutenant-
General David Leslie hath an house, himself being then
at church, where two of his men being at home, they
saw (as they thought) an ensign fastened like a standard
upon the tower of his house, which caused them to go
up, not having known of any such thing put there.

The Last Coronation in Scotland. 61

When they came up there, as they say, they being on
the top of the tower, looked upon it, and there seemed
to be the picture of their master, Lieutenant-General
David L., riding upon his charging horse, in his buff
coat, and in that posture in which he used to march,
and upon it also the motto of his own colours " — pro-
bably the motto of the house of Lindores, of which he
was the third son, S/tf/ Promissa Fides — Faith promised
stands. " One of the men going near to the flag to
hold it in his hands, or touch it, the staff, and colours,
and all fell down into the midst of the garden, whither
they went down to take it up again. When they came
into the garden, and thought to have found it there, it
was gone ; and none knows anything more of it, only
what these two there saw. They went presently to the
church to tell their master what they had seen, and what
befell them, and to ask him about it, and whether he
knew of any such ensign set up there." The diurnal
paragraphist omits to mention what General Leslie said ;
but we may suppose that his answer was in the negative,
for the narrator goes on : " This news hath much amazed
them hereabouts ; some making a good construction of
it to Scotland, others bad, and good to England. Some
think that the men were seduced by an evil spirit, and
some think they are very knaves." Whatever was
thought, the ensuing war with Cromwell gave Leslie
plenty opportunities of " riding on his charging horse,"
and certainly his flag fell ingloriously at Dunbar, and
again at Worcester.

But towards the end of July, 1650, there was a far
more singular manifestation on the Castle-hill of Edin-
burgh. On one of those quiet and balmy summer
nights, a sentry at the outer gate of the Castle, under

62 Narratives from Scottish History.

the Half-moon Battery, was alarmed by a drum beating,
and the tread of martial feet advancing up the hill. He
listened, and, as the times were wild and treachery
broadcast, he fired off his musket, and brought out the
main-guard, and also the Governor, Colonel Walter
Dundas of that ilk, to whom he told the reason of the
alarm. But now, as all was still and nothing to be seen,
in the midnight, his word was indignantly scouted — very
likely he was roundly charged with being "drunk or
daft" — and Dundas, bestowing on him a few thwacks
with his truncheon, dismissed him to his quarters, and
posted a fresh man in his place. This soldier had not
been long alone when the report of his firelock rang
over the Castle — and he, too, protested that he had
heard the drum and the marching ! Tiie Governor was
staggered. He would watch himself, and so he did.
Not many turns had he taken when the mysterious drum
began to beat the Old Scots March of King James the
Fifth's time, and was duly accompanied by the military
tramp on the bare declivity beyond the fortress ! The
sounds approached, mingled with the rattle of arms and
the murmur of men, and seemed to pass slowly before
the very gate where stood the amazed Governor, who
saw nothing, and then they died away. " Finding it an
apparition," says the contemporary Account, which pro-
fesses to be founded on the version of the circumstances
given to " a godly person in Edinburgh " by the
Governor, u he heard the same noise approaching to
the Castle walls, beating the English March more fierce
than the other, and then desisted ; a little while after
he heard a great noise of armed men, marching with a
greater violence than the other two, and, on their
approaching the Castle walls, they desisted, and there

The Last Coronation in Scotland. 63

beat the French March more fiercely than the Scots or
English. Next morning the Governor told the foresaid
person what he had met with, and that they were shortly
to remove, and that the French would come ere all the
work were ended."* The rush of events speedily gave
fulfilment to part of the spectral visitation. Cromwell
marched his army through Berwick on Monday, 22nd
July — two squadrons of cavalry being the first that
passed over to Scottish soil. All the beacons on
Scottish hills and headlands were kindled, spreading far
and wide the news of the invasion.

The Scots followed the old mode of defence enjoined
by King Robert Bruce. They laid waste the whole
country from Berwick to Edinburgh. Proclamations
were issued, furiously denouncing "the blasphemer,"

* It appears from Grant's British Battles that the Scots March
was not a tune, but "a peculiar beat of the drum, used as lately as
1818 by the City Guard of Edinburgh. There was also a similar
cadence on the drum used in the sister country, known as the
English Marc/t, which is that mentioned in a Warrant of
Charles I., issued at Westminster in the seventh year of his reign
(1632), as 'the march of this our English nation, so famous in all
the honourable achievements and glorious wars of this our king-
dom in foreign parts, which, through the negligence and careless-
ness of drummers, and by long discontinuance was so altered and
changed irom the ancient gravity and majesty thereof, as it was in
danger utterly to have been lost and forgotten. It pleased our late
dear brother, Prince Henry, to revive and rectify the same by
ordaining the establishment of one certain measure, which was
beaten in his presence at Greenwich in 1610 ; ' and this measure,
continues the Warrant, is to be used in future by ' all drummers
within our Kingdom of England and Principality of Wales.' " The
French March would, in all probability, be drum music of the same
character, though varying in cadence from either the Scots or the
English.

64 Narratives front Scottish History.

Cromwell, and his ''army of Sectaries." Cromwell's
barbarities in the Irish war being fresh in men's minds,
the Scottish Government declared that the Roundheads
would massacre all males between sixteen and sixty;
consequently, when the invading troops advanced, it
was through a devastated country, deserted by all its
inhabitants save only old men and some poor women
and children. The season, though it was summer, was
bad ; provisions were very scarce, and could only be
obtained from the English ships which sailed along the
coast ; and the soldiers had no tents — (< so, in my judg-
ment," quoth an Intelligencer of the day, " wet weather
and want of provisions will make Captain Cold and
Captain Hunger much injure the army." Qomwell,
however, warily resolved to falsify his enemies' predictions
of the savage manner in which he intended to conduct
the campaign. He was in straits, and could not afford
just yet to show any indication of ruthless measures. He
harangued his men on the necessity for good behaviour,
and strictly forbade all plundering. But he had not
spent a night on Scottish ground when a droll instance
of plundering came under his own eye at Mordington,
where his camp was pitched. The incident is recorded
in the Memoirs of Captain Hodgson, one of the Round-
heads : — " Our officers, hearing a great shout among the
soldiers, looked out of window. They spied a soldier
with a Scotch kirn on his head. Some of them had
been purveying abroad, and had found a vessel filled
with Scotch cream ; bringing the reversion of it to their
tents, some got dishfuls and some hatfuls ; and the
cream being now low in the vessel, one fellow would
have a modest drink, and so lifts the kirn to his mouth ;
but, another canting it up, it falls over his head, and the

The Last Coronation in Scotland. 65

man is lost in it — all the cream trickles down his
apparel and his head fast in the tub ! This was a merri-
ment to the officers, as Oliver loved an innocent jest."
Noll might laugh at this misadventure ; but, for a time,
he was stern in the prohibition and punishment of
plundering ; and during his onward march more than
one soldier suffered death for disobedience in this
respect.

The covenanting commander, David Leslie, en-
trenched his forces in front of Edinburgh, and confi-
dently awaited the onset. About 30,000 had mustered
around his standard ; but a purgation of his ranks took
place on the Links of Leith, whereby every man was
discharged who bore the slightest taint of malignancy.
Many of the best soldiers — probably about a third of the
whole array — were thus disbanded, to satisfy tender
consciences ; and the residue constituted an " Army of
Saints," who could not possibly fail in scattering the
Sectaries like chaff before the whirlwind. King Charles
was brought to review the troops, and his heart must
have sunk as he witnessed the folly and madness of his
self-righteous masters. But their cup was not yet full :
for they had still to usher in the " high noon " of their
country's degradation and thraldom. When Cromwell
came up, he found a long line of defence, bristling with
pikes and cannon, and his attack was stoutly repelled.
Everything was against him. His assault had failed.
The weather was wretched, with wind and rain : his
supply of provisions was short, and sickness prevailed in
his camp. In fact, sickness was general in the country,
and smallpox caused a lamentable mortality among
children. Unable to draw Leslie from his position, and
not daring another attempt to storm it, Cromwell was

66 Narratives from Scottish History.

driven to retreat. He fell back on Musselburgh,
Preston, and Inveresk, and began to form entrench-
ments. " He made stables," says Sir James Balfour,
" of all the churches for his horses wheresoever he came,
and burned all the seats and pews in them ; rifled the
ministers' houses, and destroyed their corn."

The Scottish army — numbering, according to Crom-
well's computation, 16,000 foot and 6000 horse, though
it was probably somewhat smaller — followed the beaten
enemy, and brought him to bay at Dunbar. The
English were now, in Captain Hodgson's words, " a
poor, shattered, hungry, discouraged army '' — not more,
it is said, of effective strength, than 7,500 foot and 3,500
horse. Leslie seized the high grounds, and had but to
remain there, and Cromwell must either have laid down
his arms or fought, with the certainty of being cut to
pieces. The surrender or annihilation of the English
would have been the issue, had Leslie worked out his
Fabian policy. But he changed it — some say at the
instigation of the Committee of Estates and the ministers
who attended him. The ministers pretended to have
seen visions and dreame*d dreams, in which they had
received divine assurance that Amalek was about to be
delivered into their hands. They might have been
warned by a symbol of wrath in the heavens, which Sir
James Balfour has thus recorded. " On Friday, the
3oth of the month of August, 1650, between ten and
eleven at night, there was seen in the firmament a fiery
forked sword, coming from the north, and it did vanish
and pass away out of sight south-east. Andrew Balfour
and Henry Hope, merchants of Edinburgh, being on the
watch, with many hundreds more, did see it, and testifies
the same to be of truth." But Leslie changed his plan.

The Last Coronation in Scotland. 67

He began to descend the hills on the 2nd of September,
and next morning the two hosts joined battle.

The fight lasted about an hour. It began with the
English cavalry. " Before our foot could come up,"
says Cromwell, " the enemy made a gallant resistance,
and there was a very hot dispute at sword's point
between our horse and theirs." The descent of the hill
put the Scots at an enormous disadvantage ; but it
might have been relieved had David Leslie exerted him-
self. As it was, he seems to have done nothing, while
his army was going to wreck and ruin. His right wing
was soon overwhelmed by superior forces, and his centre
and left wing were never brought up to support it, and
when it was driven back it threw centre and left into
irretrievable disorder. What might have been the result
had the " Great Montrose " led the Scots ? But the die
was cast, and Cromwell gained the victory, at a loss, he
said, of " 20 men ! " The Scots left 3,000 men dead on
the field, and 9,000 weie taken prisoners, including 12
Lieutenant-Colonels, 6 Majors, 37 Captains, 75 Lieuten-
ants, 17 Cornets, 2 Quarter-masters, no Ensigns, and
15 Sergeants. All their baggage and ammunition,
thirty-two pieces of artillery (some of which were leather
guns), and about 200 stands of colours, fell into the
hands of the conquerors. General Leslie, " vigorous for
flight as for other things," says Carlyle, "got to Edin-
burgh by nine o'clock." When the work was done,
Cromwell held thanksgiving with his soldiers by singing
the 1 1 7th Psalm : —

O give ye praise unto the Lord,

All nations that be ;
Likewise, ye people all, accord

His name to magnify.

68 Narratives from ScottisJi History.

For great to us-ward ever are

His loving-kindnesses :
His truth endures for evermore,

The Lord O do ye bless.

Leslie wrote a letter to the Marquis of Argyle, con-
taining a confused notice of the defeat of his army : —

Concerning the misfortune of our army I shall say nothing but it
was the visible hand of God, with bur own laikness, and not of
man that defeat them, notwithstanding of orders given to stand to
their arms that night. I know I got my own share of the fall by
many for drawing them so near the enemy, and must suffer for this
as many times formerly, though I take God to witness we might
have as easily beaten them as we did James Graham at Philip-
haugh, if the officers had stayed by their troops and regiments.*

But very probably if James Graham had set outposts
around his camp, Leslie would have told a different tale,
had he survived to tell a tale at all.

How did Cromwell treat his prisoners? He sent to
their own homes 5100 sick and wounded, chiefly old
men and boys, who, in a dearth of recruits, had been
forced to swell the ranks; and the remainder, 3900, were
marched in droves to England, and ultimately, all of
them who escaped the ravages of disease, were sold as
slaves for the Plantations ! " In the long black cata-
logue of disasters brought upon Scotland during a period
of five hundred years by rulers whom God in His wrath
had sent to be her curse, her scourge, and her shame,
there is none greater or more shameful than this rout of
Dun bar, rendered yet more galling and made to bear a
pre-eminence of hardship and infamy by the treatment

* Bursorfs History ', vol. vii. pp. 25 — 26.

The Last Coronation in Scotland. 69

which the prisoners met with from the victors." * And
as another writer says : — " A more melancholy page of
history is nowhere to be found than this brief reign
of the Covenant in Scotland." f How some of the
Scottish white slaves were used across the Atlantic
will be best seen from a letter dated Boston, 28th
July, 1651, sent by a famous Puritan minister of
New England, the Rev. John Cotton, to Cromwell : —
" The Scots whom God delivered into your hands at
Dunbar — and whereof sundry were sent hither — we have
been desirous, as we could, to make their yoke easy.
Such as were sick of the scurvy or other diseases have
not wanted physic and chirurgery. They have not been
sold for slaves to perpetual servitude ; but for six, or
seven, or eight years, as we do our own. And he that
bought the most of them, I hear, buildeth houses for
them — for every Four a House — and layeth some acres
of ground thereto, which he giveth them as their own,
requiring them three days in the week to work for him
by turns, and four days for themselves ; and promiseth,
as soon as they can repay him the money he laid out for
them, he will set them at liberty." | This was a generous
taskmaster ; but we may wonder what the white slaves
thought of that glorious time, "Scotland's high noon,"
which had brought them to ineffable degradation !

* Bisset's Omitted Chapters in the History of England, vol. i.
P. 378.

t North British Review, vol. 46, p. 415.

J Carlyle's Cromwell's Letters and Speeches, vol. iii., p. 171.

7O Narratives from Scottish History.

II.

Am I a King ?
What power have I ? Ye lying slaves, I am not.

— Hannah Mare's " Belshazzar."

GENERAL LESLIE, with the wreck of his army, retired
upon Stirling, and Cromwell retraced his steps towards
Edinburgh, where no resistance could be made to
him, except from the Castle, which was held for the
King by Colonel Dundas. The great Sectary occupied
Edinburgh and Leith, and in a few days had in his
hands most of the country, south of Forth, as far as Fal-
kirk. But the disaster of Dunbar, while it shattered
the power of the high-flying party among the Cove-
nanters (and for that reason was secretly gratifying to
the King and his royalist supporters), had no effect in
moderating the wildness of the aims and ends contended
for by the humiliated enthusiasts. In the face of the
common danger, — in the face of a bleeding, distracted,
half-enslaved fatherland, — the zealots created new divi-
sion, though never was unity more needful for a nation's
salvation. They were utterly dissatisfied with the
King : he had shown no sign of conversion, or of
penitence for the sins of his house : he still kept
malignants about him, and these should be expelled
nolens volens by a thorough purgation. So deep were
the convictions of these men, that about 4000 soldiers
of their austere faction seceded from Leslie's camp,
under the leadership of Captain Strachan, who had
crushed Montrose's rising, and took up an independent

TJie Last Coronation in Scotland. 71

attitude — their plea of superior sanctity and stricter
Covenant-keeping justifying them in opposing both the
King and Cromwell. As if to keep them in counten-
ance, a few members of the Commission of Assembly,
following the army and the Parliament to Stirling, drew
up and issued a Declaration and Warning applicable to
the crisis, and also " Causes of a Solemn Public Humi-
liation upon the defeat of the army, to be kept through-
out all the Congregations of the Kirk of Scotland " ; and
among the causes of divine wrath they assigned the
following : — " The leaving of a most malignant and
profane guard of horse to be about the King, who having
been sent for to be purged about two days before the
defeat, were suffered to be, and fought in our army."
The men who entertained such notions about the proper
composition of an army, were unworthy of their position.
The Fast which they ordered was kept ; but in Fife
especially many of the ministers refused to read the
Causes from the pulpit ; and, indeed, the reign of the
zealots was fast approaching its final termination.
Eventually Strachan and his Ishmaelite band were
routed by the English near Hamilton, and Strachan
soon consummated his baseness by openly joining
Cromwell.

The stormy weather prevented Cromwell from attack-
ing the royal troops at Stirling ; but he made his way
to Glasgow, where he was quietly received ; and he laid
close siege to the Castle of Edinburgh, in which a num-
ber of ministers had taken refuge. In this interval, the
King was treated as a mere puppet in the hands of his
quasi friends. It was plain that he lacked sincerity in
the cause which had been thrust upon him ; hence the
keen jealousy with which he was regarded. There was

72 Narratives from Scottish History.

" incompatibility " on both sides. Charles fretfully
endured the restraint imposed upon the free and easy
habits which he had brought with him from the Con-
tinent. Distasteful was the odour of sanctity which
perpetually surrounded him. He could not conceal how
irksome to his natuie was the round of religious services
in which he had daily to engage. He did not think that
Presbyterianism was the ''religion of a gentleman." At
length, he began to dread lest his friends might end by
handing him over to the enemy, as they did with his
father ; and full of such fears, he listened eagerly to the
suggestions of the few Cavaliers about him, that he
should strive to make his escape, and throw himself
among the Royalists of the north. Correspondence was
opened with the Marquis of Huntly, the Earls of Moray
and Athol, and other Chiefs, all of whom gladly entered
into the plot, and summoned their vassals to arms.
Before the conspiracy was ripe, however, some hint of its
existence was conveyed to the Marquis of Argyle.
Upon this discovery, the Committee of Estates resolved
to dismiss two and twenty of the Cavaliers who remained
about the King's person, leaving only three exempted
from the sweeping ostracism. The marked men were
ordered to quit the Court within four and twenty hours,
and the kingdom within twenty days. Charles was
brought to Perth, where the Parliament was shortly to
assemble. He pled hard that nine of the persons to be
banished should be passed over until the Parliament sat
down, and gave its judgment. But the inexorable Com-
mittee refused this poor favour. On getting the rebuff,
the offended Prince made up his mind to take his flight
at the earliest moment. Nor was the opportunity long

The Last Coronation in Scotland. 73

deferred, though it came sooner than his Highland
partisans expected.*

On Friday, the 4th October, the King gave out that
he wished to enjoy the sport of hawking that day on the
banks of the Tay south of Perth ; and to lull suspicion
he desired to be attended by only five ordinary servants
— namely, two grooms of his chambers, and three
gentlemen of his stables. Dressing himself in a thin
riding-suit, he set forth on horseback, with his slender
train, and issued from the town by the South Port about
half-past one o'clock in the afternoon — probably whilst
the music bells in St. John's steeple were tinkling the
silvery notes of some old Scots melody. He rode
rapidly through the South Inch, whose green expanse
would be diversified with snow-white " bleachings/' and
grazing cattle, and gamesome children. If the prospect
of the hills nerved his beating breast with the anticipa-
tions of freedom and regal sway, perchance the russet
hues of autumn, the tokens of Nature's decay — the
brown fields cleared of a scanty harvest, the reddening
foliage, the withered wild flowers, the sere leaves falling
from the boughs and whirling in the wind, might tend to
impress his soul with sombre reflections. As soon as he
had passed the Inch, he put spurs to his steed, and rode
11 at a full career " down the river-side.

* The position of Charles among the Covenanters was afterwards
amusingly depicted in a Parliamentarian Caricature, dated I4th
July, 1651, "The Scots holding their young King's nose to the
Grindstone." Under this title is a woodcut representing the
grindstone which "Jockie, " a Scot, is turning; the King, in his
royal robes, bending his nose over it, and a minister pressing the
King's head down with one hand, and saying, "Stoop, Charles."
A long poem follows. See Ashton's Humour, Wit, and Satire of
the Seventeenth Century, p. 403.

6

74 Narratives from Scottish History.

Crossing the Tay at Inchyra, the royal party made
straight for Dudhope Castle, near Dundee, near which,
as the King had been told, the Cavalier forces were to
hold rendezvous. That place being reached, no forces
were found there, but he was welcomed by Viscount
Dudhope, who bidding him be of good cheer, promptly
led him to Auchterhouse. From thence, without any
pause, he was hurried away by the Viscount and the
Earl of Buchan to Cortachy Castle, a romantic seat of
the Earl of Airlie, on the banks of the South Esk.
But even under the roof of the faithful Ogilvie, Charles
was not considered safe from pursuit ; and therefore,
after he had partaken of a hasty repast, sixty or eighty
Highlanders were mustered, and, under their escort, he
sought the heathy solitudes of the Glen of Clova, along
which the River Esk pours its flood. The sough of the
wind among the heather, the screams of the startled
birds as they rose on the wing, the bounding away of
the deer from their bosky coverts, and the fresh bracing
air of the hills, may have inspired him with hope and
confidence ; but he never drew bridle till he came to a
lonely shieling pertaining to the Laird of Clova. The
young monarch had now ridden in all forty-two miles
from St. Johnstoun. Weary and faint, he sought repose.
The hovel afforded no better pallet than a ragged mat
of " seggs " and rushes, and an old bolster. He lay
down, " over-wearied," it is told, " and very fearful."
Perhaps he recalled to mind that no better couch had
the valiant Bruce when, in the lowest ebb of his fortunes,
he lay and watched the spider whose persistency in
stretching its thread from rafter to rafter overhead pre-
figured his own ultimate triumph.

" Very fearful " was the royal fugitive, and not without

The Last Coronation in Scotland. 75

good cause for fear. Before daybreak glimmered in the
murky east, the hut was entered by two emissaries of
the Covenanters ! His flight had been tracked, and six
hundred troopers were coming up fast. Three other
emissaries soon appeared, and all joined in urging the
King's return. Dudhope besought him still to fly, tell-
ing him that some five or six miles farther among the
hills five thousand foot and two thousand horse were
gathered for his support. But the pursuing cavalry
quickly surrounded the hut, and the game was lost.
The captains of the squadron seem to have behaved
with much tact and discretion. Charles put the best
face he could on the motives of his evasion, and con-
sented to go back to Perth. " So," says Sir James
Balfour, "they conducted his Majesty to Huntly Castle
in the Carse of Cowrie, where he sta>ed all Saturday
night, and from thence, on Sunday in the afternoon, he
came to Perth the 6th of October, and heard sermon in
his ain chamber of presence, the afternoon's sermon in
the town being ended before he entered the town."

The Start, as this incident was called, caused the
Covenanting magnates still more to modify their con-
duct towards the King."* They treated him with

* The Start had its parallel dining the wars of Edward III. of
England on the Continent. The young Count of Flanders, Louis
de Made, after the death of his father on the French side at the
Battle of Crecy, promised solemnly to respect the privileges of
Flanders, Brabant, and Hainault, and also to cement their alliance
with England by wedding Edward's daughter, the Princess
Isabella, to whom accordingly he was betrothed on 1410 March,
1347. But his heart was with France and Margaret of Brabant.
The Flemish Communes held him in close restraint ; but, only a
few days after the betrothal, he obtained leave to go out to fly a

76 Narratives from Scottisli History.

greater consideration, and strove to render his position
in every respect agreeable to him. He sat, for the first
time, in the Committee of Estates, at a meeting of that
ruling body, held in his own chamber on loth October.
He endeavoured to make himself as conciliatory as he
could, and, as is said, gained upon the weak side of the
Marquis of Argyle by throwing out hints that he might
marry his daughter. Meanwhile, the King's return from
Clova glen did not prevent a rising of the Royalists in
Athole and elsewhere, and it was not without consider-
able difficulty that they were induced to lay aside their
arms. A royal pardon was granted to them, and pro-
claimed by a herald at the Cross of Perth. On 2oth
November, before the Parliament met, an Act was
passed by the Committee of Estates " ordaining none in
the burghs of Perth, Dundee, Cupar, St. Andrews, Burnt-
island, etc., to take any more than 45. Scots for a gentle-
man's bed a-night, and 25. for a servant's; and the
lodger to pay for candle and fire, by and attour ; and
the transgressing landlord of this Act to pay, toties quoties
(every time of transgression), ^100 Scots."

The Scottish Parliament had sat down at Perth, in the
ancient Parliament House in the High Street, on Tues-
day, 26th November. The member for the burgh was
the Provost, Andrew Grant of Balhagils (now Murray-
shall) and Bonhard. Not many sittings had been held
when there appeared a presage of evil. On the evening

hawk ; and, says Froissart, " when he was at some distance irom
his guards, and in the open fields, he drove his spurs into his
horse, and made such speed that he was soon out of sight ; nor did
he stop till he got into Artois, where he was safe," with the French
King. Probably Charles II. had read this story in Froissart's
Chronicles.

The Last Coronation in Scotland. 77

of Thursday, 5th December, after candles had been
lighted in the Parliament House, " a great stock owl,"
says Sir James Balfour, " mounted on the top of the
crown, which, with the sword and sceptre, lay on a table
over against the throne." Here was an omen ! From
classic times, the owl, though the bird of Minerva, or of
wisdom, was regarded as being the harbinger of public
calamity. An owl once strayed into the capitol of
Rome, and the city had to undergo a lustration to avert
the threatened evil ; and, on another occasion, war was
presignified by the flying of owls into the Temple of
Concord. Among the prodigies that preceded the
assassination of Julius Caesar was this —

The bird o( night did sit,
Even at noon-day, upon the market-place,
Hooting and shrieking.

Owls likewise presaged the deaths of the Emperors
Augustus and Commodus Antoninus ; and the Emperor
Valentinian died shortly after an owl had perched on
the roof of his bath-house. Pope John XXIII. was
alarmed by the appearance of an owl in a Roman Coun-
cil;* and, in 1542, at Wirtzburg in Kranconia, the

*John XXIII., who became Pope in May, 1410, called a
"Reformatory Council" together at Rome in 1412. When the
preliminary services were over, "an owl flew up suddenly with
a startling hoot into the middle of the church, and, perching itself
upon a beam opposite to the Pope, whence it stared him sedately in

the face His Holiness was greatly annoyed, and

turned pale, then red, and in an awkward and abrupt fashion

dissolved the meeting At the next session, says

Fleury, the owl took up his position again, fixing his eyes on
John, who was more dismayed than before, and ordered them to

78 Narratives from Scottish History.

screeching of owls was followed by pestilence and war.
In full accordance with this superstition, the advent of
(what the poet Spenser calls) « the ill-faced owl, death's
dreadful messenger," in the Parliament House of Perth,
was followed by heavy national misfortunes.

On Tuesday, 24th December, Edinburgh Castle was
tamely, perhaps treacherously, surrendered to Cromwell
— only one of the ministers in the garrison, Mr. Munao
Law of Dysart, protesting against the unwarrantable
transaction; and "the English bragged," says Balfour,
" that they had the same keys to open the Castle and
town gates of Stirling which opened the Castle gates of
Edinburgh." But, above all. the Parliament took a
step which, though dictated by the soundest principles
of policy, caused a serious and lasting rupture of the
Covenanting party. By what was called the " Act of
Classes," which had pasred some time before, all persons
known or suspected as Malignants (Cavaliers) were pro-
nounced incapable of holding public office, civil or mili-
tary— a measure which excluded thousands of all
degrees from aiding in the defence of the country. The
defeat at Dunbar altered the relative strength of parties.
The Malignants had suffered nothing from that battle ;
they were numerous and powerful, and the new levies for
the army could not be made up without them. They
secretly viewed with satisfaction the heavy losses which
befel the rigidly- Covenanting party. Thus, so late as

drive away the bird. A singular scene then ensued, the prelates
hunting the bird, which insisted on remaining, and flinging their
canes at it. At last they succeeded in killing the owl as an in-
corrigible heretic." — James' Ctiriosities of Christian History,
P. 371-

The Last Coronation in Scotland. 79

the 5th December, the Duke of Buckingham, writing
from Perth to the Marquis of Newcastle, says :—

I can not but observe to you as a happy omen of our future good
success, that our losses begin to grow lucky to us, for Lambert has
lately fallen upon the western forces and routed them, which next
to Cromwell were the greatest enemies we had in the world. I
hope now we shall agree, and join to make a considerable army,
since they are defeated that were the greatest hindrance to it. If
we can but unite among ourselves, I am confident we shall yet
make as brave an army as ever was raised in this kingdom, but
whether we shall be so happy as that comes to or no, God knows.*

Acting for the best, the Parliament, in a compromis-
ing spirit, opened a door for the admission of that party,
by agreeing to " Resolutions " declaring that as many
persons as expressed contrition for their defections from,
or opposition to, the cause of the Covenant, should be
eligible for the public service in any capacity. These
Resolutions became a bitter bone of contention, and,
like Ithuriel's spear, forced an unpatriotic fanaticism to
appear in its true colours before the eyes of men. The
enemy was in the land, and master of the provinces
south of the Forth : surely no stone ought to have been
left unturned, and every sicrifice should have been made,
for his expulsion. What signified politico-ecclesiastical
squabbles, and hair-splitting distinctions, when the
honour, the safety, the independence of the kingdom
was at stake ? The more rigid section of the Presby-
terians opposed the resolutions tooth and nail, but were
out-voted, and then they protested, and would concur in
no farther measures for prosecuting the war against the

* Thirteenth Report of the Royal Commission: The MSS. of the
Duke of Portland, vol. ii., p. 137-8.

8o Narratives from Scottish History.

invader ! It was a woeful time : and for the next ten
years the down-trodden Church of Scotland was rent by
the rancorous feud which the party of Protestors kept up
with the Resolutioners. But the resolutions were
approved by the majority of the people, and sufficiently
served the purpose for which they had been introduced
by giving the requisite impetus to recruiting for the royal
army.

The New-Year's-Day of 1651, being Wednesday,
became memorable by the Coronation of King Charles
the Second — the last Coronation in Scotland. This
august ceremonial had been postponed from time to
time; but it now took place, on the first day of 1651,
at Scone, where, since the reign of Kenneth II., the
conqueror of the Picts, a long line of monarchs had
been invested with " the round and top of sovereignty."
It was Kenneth who in 843 brought the Lia Fail, or
Stone of Destiny, from Dunstaffnage to Scone, and there
it remained as the Scottish Palladium, till Edward I.
reft it from its place, and removed it to Westminster
Abbey. Robert Bruce, the heroic restorer of Scottish
independence, was crowned at Scone by the Countess
of Buchan, who placed on his head a thin circlet of
gold, probably taken from the brow of some image of
saint or martyr in the Abbey Church. There, too, his
unworthy son, David II., and the next three monarchs,
Robert II., Robert III., and James I., were crowned.
James II. was crowned at Holyrood, because it was
thought perilous for the royal boy to be brought to the
vicinity of the city where his father was assassinated.
James III. was crowned at Kelso, surrounded by the
soldiers who took the Castle of Roxburgh, at the seige
of which fortress his father had been killed by the

The Last Coronation in Scotland. 81

bursting of a cannon. James IV. was crowned at
Scone : so was James V. in October, 1513, from which
date 138 years elapsed till Scone again became, and for
the last time, the scene of a Scottish Coronation.

The Coronation of 1651 necessarily differed to some
extent, in its ceremonial, from that of Charles I. at
Holyrood in 1633, and presented little of the splendour
which had graced the latter magnificent spectacle.
Stately pageants were in unison with the days of 1633,
when the nation enjoyed profound tranquility, unex-
pectant cf the troubles in store — though even then the
rising of the storm-cloud, no bigger than a man's hand,
might have been descried in the horizon. How striking
was the contrast between the two periods ! A few short
years had evolved an epoch, the influence of which is
felt to this day, and will continue to be felt through all
succeeding ages.

If Holyrood had been available for the young King's
Coronation, the august ceremony would have graced its
venerable halls. Holyrood, however, was not only in
the hands of the enemy, but was now reduced almost to
a mass of blackened ruins. Some of the Roundhead
troops had been quartered in it, and through their care-
lessness a fire broke out, on the i3th November,
which devastated the building, though the north-west
tower, containing Queen Mary's apartments, fortunately
escaped. This was a disaster which must have struck
the nation as an omen of direst import. Under these
sad auspices, King Charles, like his heroic ancestor,
Bruce, at the outset of his struggle, went to Scone.

No vestige of the ancient Abbey and Palace of Scone
survived in 1651 ; but a new mansion, which was some-
times dignified with the name of palace, had been

82 Narratives from Scottish History.

erected by David, first Lord Scone, who also built a new
Parish Church, on the famous Moot-hill of Scone, about
the year 1624, when the remains of the Abbey Church
fell in utter ruin. This new church was an elegant
structure, but the only portion of it that still exists is an
aisle containing Lord Scone's monument. Both palace
and church were prepared for the solemnity, which was
to be attended with as much display as the circumstances
permitted. For one thing, the exchequer was very far
from being plethoric, and consequently recourse was had
to borrowing in order to meet the expenses of the
Coronation. A prosperous burgess of Perth — Andrew
Reid, merchant — perhaps the wealthiest citizen of the
town, — was applied to in this strait, and he readily
advanced about 40,000 merks, upon the King's bond for
payment : and it has been also stated that the King was
his personal debtor in a further sum of 60,000 merks,
obtained in money or goods, or probably in both
together. This merchant-prince must have held
unbounded confidence in the future of the royal
cause, otherwise he would have scarcely been so iree
with his purse. By command of the Commission of
Assembly, the Coronation was preceded by two Fasts,
on the 22nd and 26th December: the first being "for
the contempt of the gospel," and the second " for the
King's sins, and the sins of the royal house." These
Fasts were kept by the King at Perth.

The clergyman appointed to officiate at the Corona-
tion was Mr. Robert Douglas, one of the ministers of
Edinburgh, and Moderator of the Commission of
Assembly — an able and discreet man, free of much of
the narrow-mindedness of his day, and a leading member
of the party of Resolutioncrs. A mystery hung about his

The Last Coronation in Scotland. 83

parentage, which has never been dispelled. He was
said to have come of royal blood, and that he was the
grandson of Mary Queen of Scots, his father being a son
whom she had borne to George Douglas of Loch Leven,
during her imprisonment in the Castle of the Lake.
Bishop Burnet says that Mr. Douglas " was not ill-
pleased to have the story pass," as it added to his
personal importance; but "the story" was quiie apocry-
phal, though probably the assumed relationship to
George Douglas, by another grandmother than Queen
Mary, was correct. Whatever the minister's birth, he
was undeniably gifted with commanding talents, which
raised him to eminence. He had been chaplain in one
of the Scottish Brigades serving under Gustavus
Adolphus in the Thirty Years' War. During his cam-
paigns, Mr. Douglas having no other book with him but
the Bible, his constant perusal of the sacred volume
gave him so thorough an acquaintance with it that he
seemed to have the most of it by heart. The Lion of
the North held him in the highest estimation, and is
said by Wodrow to have thus testified to the remarkable
merits of the ScUs chaplain: — "Mr. Douglas might
have been counsellor to any prince in Europe ; for
prudence and knowledge, he might be Moderator to a
General Assembly ; and even for military skill, I could
very freely trust my army to his conduct." This was
high praise ; and Wodrow adds " that in one of Gus-
tavus' engagements, he was standing at some distance on
a rising ground, and, when both wings were engaged, he
observed some mismanagement on the left wing that wns
like to prove fatal, and he eiiher went or sent to
acquaint the commanding officer, and it was prevented,
and the day was gained." After his return from

84 Narratives from Scottish History.

Germany to his native country, he became second
minister of Kirkcaldy in 1630, and continued there till
transported to Edinburgh in 1641. He was often called
to preach before the Scottish Parliament, being, as
Wodrow says, "a great State preacher, one of the
greatest we ever had in Scotland, for he feared no man
to declare the mind of God to him." While u he was
very accessible and easily to be conversed with," yet
" unless a man were for God, he had no value for him,
let him be never so great and noble." This writer sums
up his character by declaring him to have been a " truly
great man, who for his prudence, solidity, and research
was equalled by very few in his time." The General
Assembly of 1649 raised Mr. Douglas to the Moderator's
Chair ; and, as already stated, he was Moderator of the
Commission in 1650. " I have known you," says Prin-
cipal Baillie in a letter to him, " keep the Commission
from going the way of some peremptory men; howsoever
I have been grieved, at other times, to see you let things
go with them which I supposed was contrary to your
mind." Not a more distinguished minister in Scotland
could have been selected for the duty at Scone.

" It was Cromwell's purpose," writes Baillie to another
reverend brother, " which I thought easily he might have
performed, to have marred by arms that action" — the
Coronation — "at least the solemnity of it." But
Cromwell kept south of the Scottish sea, content for the
present with the surrender of Edinburgh Castle. King
Charles was conducted to Scone, amid a great assem-
blage of nobles and commons. Under favour of the
Public Resolutions, those noblemen, formerly excluded
for their Cavalier politics, now came forward and assumed
their places. The Church of Scone was to be the scene

TJie Last Coronation in Scotland. 85

of the Coronation. " The Kirk," we are informed by a
contemporary Writer, was " fitted and prepared with a
table," upon which the honours were to be laid, " and a
chair set in a fining place for his Majesty's hearing of
sermon, over against the minister ; and another chair on
the other side/' where he would receive the crown :
" before which there was a bench decently covered, as
also for seats about for noblemen, barons, and burgesses.
And there being also a stage in a fit place, erected of
twenty-four foot square, about four foot high from the
ground, covered with carpets, with two stairs, one from
the west and another from the east — upon which great
stage there was another little stage erected, some two
foot high, ascended by two steps, on which the throne or
chair of state was set." Thus was the Kirk ordered for
the reception of the Winter King.*

* It may be stated here that the quartering of portions of the
Scottish army in and around the city of Perth was a great hard-
ship to the locality. The daily quartering paid by the farming
class was as follows : each horseman i8s. Scots, and each footman
6s. Scots, every twenty-four hours, with " dry quarters and other
advancements." But several lairds, at least, allowed their tenants
two-thirds of the outlay and the dry quarters. In one case, John
Cuthbert, in the half-lands of Tullilum, in the western vicinity of
Perth, who had been quartered upon from Lammas 1650 to
Lammas 1651, sued Isobel Powrie, relict of the deceased Patrick
Anderson, Laird of Tullilum, before the Commissary Court, in
1655 (during the Commonwealth, be it remarked), for the two-
thirds, amounting to ^540 135. 8d. Scots. The defender, how-
ever, had only intromitted with her late husband's effects to the
value of ^"226 135. 4d. Scots, for which sum decreet was granted,
with ;£io Scots of expenses of plea.— Register of Decreets of the
Sheriff Court of Perthshire.

86 Narratives from Scottisli History.

III.

I spake unto the crown, as having sense,
And thus upbraided it : The care on thee depending,
Hath fed upon the body of thy father ;
Therefore, thou, best of gold, art worst of gold.

King Hiiiry IV., Part Second.

NEVER, we may say, had so momentous a New Year's
morning, as that of 1651, dawned upon Scotland.
When the bell of St. Johnstoun tolled the hour of mid-
night, closing a halt-century whose latter decade had
seen furious convulsion, slaughter, and misery in the
British Islands, the crown hurled in the dust, the altar
overthrown, an anointed monarch brought to the block,
and a fanatical soldiery grasping at supreme rule, like
the Praetorian bands of degraded Rome — doubtless the
Cross of Perth was surrounded by a noisy concourse,
who rent the sky with shouts, ushering in another half-
century of which fairer hopes were cherished. Despite
the austere and gloomy spirit still in dominance, which
sought its chief delight in Fasts and Humiliations, sack-
cloth and ashes, and the subordination of all the usages
of life, public and domestic, to a dogmatic clerical
"direction " — the people, we may be sure, burst without
restraint into the accustomed revelry of the New Year ;
for, indeed, vain had hitherto been all attempts to purge
the popular mind of its relish for frolic and jollity
at the old festive seasons. Now there was ample cause
for exuberant merry-making. The simple crowd, though
keenly alive to the national dangers, were highly ani-
mated by the anticipation of a royal coronation, which

The Last Coronation in Scotland. 87

was to render the New Year's Day of 1651 memorable
to all time ; and, therefore, their demonstrations of
rejoicing would know no bounds. The homely wish of
" a gude New Year " would be conjoined with the health
of the King and confusion to Cromwell, and brimming
cups would be drained to the bottom in proof of loyalty.
We can picture to ourselves how first-footing parties
aroused expectant households over all the city, whilst
one proud thought swelled every heart — the assurance of
national deliverance when the young King should lead
forth his host to battle — even mourners for the slain and
the enslaved at Dunbar feeling the weight of sorrow
lightened by the certainty of speedy vengeance. The
town was thronged with strangers from all parts and of
all degrees — nobles, barons, knights, and gentlemen,
and likewise bands of soldiers, footmen and horsemen,
amongst whom were many malignants who had followed
Montrose's banner in the path of victory from Tibber-
muir to Kilsyth, and whose hatred to Covenants,
National and Solemn League, burned fiercer than ever,
because they had voluntarily done public penance,
according to law. These stout brethren of the blade
would swagger up and down the busy streets, with the
clank of spur and steel scabbard at their heels, boister-
ously drinking the toast of King Charles " five fathom
deep," till the wintry dawn broke languidly over
Kinnoull hill, and the sun looked down on the
ancient capital of Scotland, where flaunting flags, and
waving tapestry, and clanging joy-bells bespoke proud
festival.

Multitudes repaired to Scone that jubilant day. The
Coronation proceeded amid such pomp and state as
were compatible with the auspices under which it was

S8 Narratives from Scottish History.

held. A faithful contempoiary Account, published at
Aberdeen, enables us to offer a resutfte of the ceremonial.
First, it is said, the King, in a prince's robe, was con-
ducted from his bed chamber, in the new Palace, by the
Earl of Errol, Lord High Constable of Scotland, on his
right hand, and the Earl Marischal of Scotland on his
left, to the Chamber of Presence, where he was placed
in a chair, canopied with a cloth of state, by the Earl of
Angus, Lord Chamberlain of Scotland for that day; and
there, after a little interval, the nobles, with the Com-
missioners of Barons and Burghs, entered the hall, and
presented themselves before his Majesty. The Lord
Chancellor, the Earl of Loudon, then addressed the
King, expressing the nation's desire that he should reign
over them, to which Charles gave a fitting response : " I
do esteem the affections of my good people more than
the crowns of many kingdoms, and shall be ready, by
God's assistance, to bestow my life in their defence ;
wishing to live no longer than I may see Religion and
this Kingdom flouri^ in all happiness." After this was
spoken, the Commissioners of Burghs and Barons and
all the nobility accompanied his Majesty to the Kirk of
Scone, in order and rank according to their quality, two
and two. The Earl of Eglinton carried the Spurs ; the
Earl of Rothes the Sword ; the Earl of Crawford and
Lindsay the Sceptre; and the Marquis of Argyll bore the
Crown immediately before the King. Then came the
King, supported right and left by the Constable and the
Marischal, his train being carried by Lords Erskine,
Montgomery, Newbottle, and Mauchline, four Earls'
eldest sons. A canopy of crimson velvet was upheld
by Lords Drummond, Carnegie, Ramsay, Johnstone,
Brechin, and Yester, six Earls' sons, and these sup-

The Last Coronation in Scotland. 89

ported by six noblemen's sons. In this manner the King
entered the church, where he took his chair in front of
the pulpit, and the Honours were laid on the table
assigned for them.

All being quietly composed into attention (says our
authority), the minister, Mr. Douglas, ascended the
pulpit, and after engaging in prayer, gave out his text
from the nth chapter of 2nd Kings : —

12. And he brought forth the king's son, and put the crown upon
him, and gave him the testimony ; and they made him King, and
anointed him ; and they clapped their hands, and said, God save
the king.

13. And Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the
king and the people, that they should be the Lord's people ;
between the king also and the people.

" In this text of Scripture," he began, " you have the
solemn enthroning of Joash, a young king, and that in
a very troublesome time ; for Athalia, the mother of
Ahaziah, had cruelly murdered the royal seed and
usurped the kingdom by the space of six years. Only
this young prince was preserved by Jehosheba, the
sister of Ahaziah, and wife to Jehoiada the High Priest,
being hid with her in the House of the Lord all that
time." Not unlike were the circumstances under which
both the Jewish and the Scottish people came to crown
a king. It might be questioned if it had not bec;n
better that the Jews defeated Athaliah before they
crowned Joash ; but two reasons could be given for
proceeding with the coronation — duty to the King, and
the danger of delay. " The same is observed in our
case, and many wonder that you should crown the King
in a dangerous time, when the usurpers have such power
in the land. The same reasons may serve to answer
7

QO Narratives from ScottisJi History.

for your doing, i. It is our necessary duty to crown
the king upon all hazards, and to leave the success to
God. 2. It appeareth now it hath been too long
delayed. Delay is dangerous, because of the compli-
ance of some and treachery of others. If it shall be
delayed longer, it is to be feared that the most part
shall sit down under the shadow of the Bramble, the
destroying Usurpers." The sermon, as a whole, was
characterised by uncommon ability, occasionally rising
into eloquence. It fully discussed, in temperate and
perspicuous terms, the relative duties of King and sub-
jects under the existing constitution of government in
Scotland, particularly as affected by Covenant-engage-
ments. The Covenant was the sheet anchor of Kirk
and State : all the rights and obligations of sovereign
and people were bound up with its maintenance ; and if
the King forsook it, he should be forsaken. Touching
lightly on that fertile topic of the day — " the sins of the
royal family " — Mr. Douglas prayed that the controversy
with that house might be taken away, and "that the
crown might be fastened sure upon the King's head,
without falling or tottering." The anointing with oil, as
part of the Coronation ceremonies, he reprobated as
being essentially a Jewish rite, not obligatory upon
Christians, and as likewise a relic of Popery. Un-
sparingly he denounced the English Sectaries, because,
said he, " they have a number of damnable errors, and a
false worship to set up, and intend to take away the
ordinances of Christ and government of His Kirk." But
the King was bound, " not only to maintain religion as
it is established in Scotland, but also to endeavour the
reformation of religion in his other kingdoms," as soon
as he was restored to his government there. The

The Last Coronation in Scotland. 91

preacher energetically defended the Public Resolutions
against the aspersions of the opposing faction, and
pointed out that many of the latter party were traitorous
enough to enter into correspondence with the invaders
aud supply them with intelligence. " There is nothing
done in Kirk or State,'' he asserted, " but they (the
enemy) have intelligence of it ; a baser way hath never
been used in any nation. Your counsels and purposes
are made known to them. If there be any such here
(as I fear there be), let them take this to them, they are
of those who help the mighty against the Lord, and
the curse shall stick to them." Mr. Douglas concluded
his forcible prelection hy abjuring the King not to
apostatize from Presbytery like his grandfather, King
James ; for that monarch had laid the foundation of
much of the after-mischief.

Sermon being ended (continues our author), prayer
was offered for a blessing upon it. The Covenants
being now to be renewed by the King, they were both
read, and the Commissioners of Assembly and other
ministers came and stood before the pulpit. Mr.
Douglas having again made prayer, he administered
to the King the oath of adherence to the Covenants.
These documents and the oath itself, transcribed on a
fair parchment, were subscribed by Charles. Having
done so, he ascended the stage and sat down in the
Chair of State. Then the Constable and Marischal
went to the four corners of the platform, preceded by
the Lord Lyon, King-at-Arms, Sir James Balfour, who
thus addressed the assemblage : —

Sirs, I do present unto you the King, Charles, the rightful and
undoubted heir of the crown and dignity of this realm. This day
is by the Parliament of this kingdom appointed for his coronation ;.

92 Narratives from Scottish History.

and are you not willing to have him for your King, and become
subjects to his commandments ?

In which action the King stood up, showing himself to
the people at each corner, and they expressed their
allegiance by acclamations of " God save the King,
Charles the Second ! " His Majesty, supported by the
Constable and Marischal, descended from ttie stage,
and resumed the chair before the pulpit j whereupon
Mr. Douglas left the pulpit, and, accompanied by other
ministers, approached Charles, and enquired if he was
willing to take the oath appointed for the Coronation ?
" I am most willing," answered the King. The Lord
Lyon then stepped forth, and read aloud the oath as
contained in the Eighth Act of the First Parliament of
King James VI.

Because that the increase of Virtue, and suppressing of Idolatry
craveth, that the Prince and the people be of one perfect Religion,
which of God's mercy is now presently professed within this realm :
therefore it is statuted and ordained, by our Sovereign Lord, my
Lord Regent, and three Estates of this present Parliament, that all
kings, princes, and magistrates whatsoever, holding their place,
which hereafter at any time shall happen to reign and bear rule
over this realm, at the time of their coronation, and receipt of their
princely authority, make their faithful promise, in the presence of
the Eternal God : That, including the whole course of their lives,
they shall serve the same Eternal God to the uttermost of their
power, according as He hath required in His most Holy Word, re-
vealed and contained in the New and Old Testaments : and,
according to the same Word, shall maintain the true Religion of
Christ Jesus, the Preaching of His Holy Word, and due and right
Ministration of the Sacraments now received and preached in this
realm : and shall abolish and gainstand all False Religions, con-
trary to the same : and shall rule the People committed to their
charge, according to the Will and Command of God revealed in
His foresaid Word, and according to the loveable Laws and Con-
stitutions received in this realm, no ways repugnant to the said

The Last Coronation in Scotland. 93

Word of the Eternal God, and shall procure to the uttermost of
thtir power, to the Kirk of God, and whole Christian People, true
and perfect Peace in time coming. The Rights and Rents, with all
just Privileges of the Crown of Scotland, to preserve and keep
inviolated ; neither shall they transfer nor alienate the same. They
shall forbid and repress, in all estates and degrees, Reif, Oppres-
sion, and all kind of Wrong. In all Judgments they shall com-
mand and procure that Justice and Equity be kept to all Creatures,
without exception, as the Lord and Father of mercies be merciful
unto them. And out of their Lands and Empire they shall be
careful to root out all Heretics and Enemies to the true Worship of
God, that shall be convict by the True Kirk of God of the aforesaid
Crimes. And that they shall faithfully affirm the things above
written by their solemn Oath.

The minister now tendered the oath unto the King, who
kneeling, and holding up his right hand, swore in these
words : — " By the Eternal and Almighty God, who liveth
and reigneth for ever, I shall observe and keep all that
is contained in this oath." This done, His Majesty sat
down in his chair, and reposed himself a little space :
then arising, he was disrobed by the Chamberlain of the
princely robe, and was invested in his royal robes. The
Coronation Chair being placed apart on the north side
of the church, the King, supported as before, was
brought to it. The Sword of State was lifted from the
table by a Gentleman Usher (Sir William Cockbtirn of
Langtown), and delivered to the Lord Lyon, who gave
it to the Chamberlain, and he, putting it in the King's
hands, said —

Sir, receive this kingly sword, for the defence of the Faith of
Christ, and protection of His Kirk, and of the True Religion, as it
is presently professed within this Kingdom, and according to the
National Covenant, and League and Covenant, and for executing
Equity and Justice, and for punishment of all iniquity and in-
justice.

94 Narratives from ScottisJi History.

The Constable received back the Sword, and girt it at
the King's side. His Majesty sat down in his chair,
and the spurs were put on him by the Earl Marischal.
The Crown was now lifted from the table by the
Marquis of Argyle, and while he held it in his hands,
Mr. Douglas prayed "that the Lord would purge the
Crown from the sins and transgressions of them that did
reign before : that it might be a pure crown : that God
would settle it upon the King's head : and since men
that set it on were not able to settle it, that the Lord
would put it on and preserve it." After the prayer,
Argyle put the Crown on the King's head.

Now did the Lyon, beside whom stood the Constable,
command one of his heralds to call the whole noblemen
one by one, according to their ranks, who each coming
before the Kin^ kneeling, and with his hand touching
the Crown on the King's head, swore these words : "By
the Eternal and Almighty God, who liveth and reigneih
for ever, I shall support thee to my utmost." And when
they had done, they all held up their hands, and sware
to he "loyal and true subjects, and faithful to the
Crown." The people were next to be sworn. The
Lyon, accompanied by the Marischal, went to the four
corners of the stage, and proclaimed the Obligatory
Oath of the People, who holding up their hands all the
time, did swear to become the King's liegemen, and to
bear faith and truth unto him, and live and die with him
against all manner of folks whatsoever, in his service,
according to the National Covenant and the Solemn
League and Covenant.

At this juncture, all the Earls and Viscounts put <>n
their crowns, and the Lord Lyon likewise put on his.
The Lord Chamberlain drew the Sword with which King

The Last Coronation in Scotland. 95

Charles was girded, and delivered it into the hands of
His Majesty, who gave it to the Constable to carry it
bare before him. The Earl of Crawford took the Sceptre
from the table, and put it in the King's right hand,
saying-
Sir, Receive this Sceptre, the sign of royal power of the king-
dom, that you may govern yourself right, and defend all the Chris-
tian people committed by God to your charge, punishing the
wicked, and protecting the just.

Wearing his royal robe, and with the crown on his
head, and the sceptre in his hand, the King ascended
the platform, attended by the royal officers and the
nobility, and was installed in the throne by the Marquis
of Argyle, who thus said —

Stand and hold fast, from henceforth, the place whereof you are
the lawful and righteous heir by a long and lineal succession of
your fathers, which is now delivered unto you by authority of
Almighty God.

When the King was seated upon the throne, Mr.
Douglas spoke to him a word of exhortation — telling
him that " destroyers are prepared for the injustice of
the throne. I entreat you," he said, " execute righteous
judgment, if you do it not, your house will be a
desolation. But if you do that which is right, God shall
remove the destroyers, and you shall be established on
your throne, and there shall yet be dignity in your
house, for your servants and for your people." He
spoke briefly ; and when he concluded, the Lord Chan-
cellor, preceded by the Lyon, went to the four corners
of the stage, and proclaimed his Majesty's free pardon to
all breakers of penal statutes, and made offer thereof,
upon which the people cried " God save the King. '

g6 Narratives from ScottisJi History.

Then, the King, supported by the Constable and
Marischal, and accompanied by the Chancellor, arose
from the throne, and went out of the kirk by a door,
prepared for the purpose, opening upon a stage. There
he showed himself to the multitude assembled without,
who clapped their hands, and shouted a long time,
" God save the King ! "

The King returning, sat down upon the throne, and
delivered the sceptre to the Earl of Crawford, to be
carried before him. Thereafter, in accordance with an
ancient custom at Scottish Coronations, the Lord Lyon
rehearsed the line of the Kings of Scotland up to Fergus
the First* The Lyon now called the Lords, one by
one, who, kneeling and holding their hands between the

* At the Coronation of Alexander III., in the Abbey of Scone,
on 3rd July, 1249, a tall, venerable Highland Sennachie or Bard,
with long white hair flowing over his shoulders and a beard almost
touching his feet, and with a scarlet mantle waving around him,
advanced to the foot of the throne. After hailing the King in the
Celtic language, he "repeated his genealogy, deducing it through
fifty-six generations from Fergus, the first king of the Scots in
Albyn. Not contented, however, with this heraldic feat, he next
commenced from Fergus, and rapidly enumerated his descent from
Heber Scot, the son of Gaithelglas, who was himself the son of
Neol, King of the Athenians, and Scota, daughter of Pharaoh,
King of Egypt." — Tytler's Lives of Scottish Worthies, vol. i., p. 9.
Sir James Balfour records that he, on 25th December, 1650,
" exhibit and producit '' to the Parliament sitting at Perth, " ane
old cuident concerning the entailment of the croune by King
Robert the Bruce to the race of the Stewarts." The House gave
him their hearty thanks, and ordered " so noble ane euident to be
put in the records of Parliament." — Annales, vol. iv., p. 219. This
"evident" was the Act of Settlement of the Scottish Crown, which
was passed by the Parliament at Cambuskenneth in 1326. It had
been long lost, but was found in France by Sir James Balfour,

Tlie Last Coronation in Scotland. 97

King's hands, swore their allegiance in the same terms
as the people had done, and each of them kissed the
King's left cheek. When these solemnities were per-
formed, the Minister, standing up before the King, pro-
nounced this blessing — •

The Lord bless thee, and save thee : the Lord hear thee in the
day of trouble ; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee ; the
Lord send thee help from the Sanctuary, and strengthen thee out
of Sion. Amen.

Once more ascending the pulpit, Mr. Douglas delivered
another exhortation, addressed to King, nobles, and
people, on their respective duties under the Covenant ;
and concluding in these words : —

And now I will close up all in one word more to you, sir. You
are the only covenanted King with God and His people in the
world. Many have obstructed your entry in it ; now seeing the
Lord hath brought you in over all these obstructions, only observe
to do what is contained therein, and it shall prove a happy time for
you and your house. And because you are tried in times of great
difficulty, wherein small strength seems to remain with you in the
eyes of the world, for recovering your just power and greatness ;
therefore, take the counsel which David, when he was dying, gave
to his son, Solomon : " Be strong, and shew thyself a man, and
keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in His ways, and keep
His commandments, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou
doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself."

After this exhortation, the minister closed the whole
action with prayer ; and the 20th Psalm being sung, he
dismissed the people with the blessing. Then did the
King descend from the stage, with the crown upon his
head, and receiving again the sceptre in his hand,
returned with the whole train, in solemn manner, to his
Palace, the sword being carried before him.

98 Narratives from Scottisk History.

It would appear that Coronation medals of gold and
silver were thrown among the people, as the regal pro-
cession returned to the Palace. So early as July, 1650,
when the King was at Falkland, Sir James Balfour
devised an impress for a coronation piece. The King's
"face" was to be on one side with this " circumscrip-
tion"— Carol: Secundus, D. G. Scot: Angl: Fran: et
Hyber : Rex, fidei defensor, etc. ; and on the reverse, a
Lion rampant, holding in his paw a thistle of three stems,
with the motto, Nemo me impune lacessit ; and below the
Lion's foot on the limb, Coronat : (Die Mensis)
A. 1650. On 1 8th December, the Parliament "ordered
that the Master of the Conzie-house, if he cannot coin
Coronation pieces of gold and silver, that he cast them
in medals."

In reference to the chairs in which the King sat in the
Kirk of Scone, the writer of the new Statistical Account
of that parish (1843) has the following interesting state-
ment : — " It is supposed that the seat of the Scone
family, now removed to the parish church in New Scone
was used at this (the Coronation) time, and that the
chair on which Charles sat, either when hearing sermon,
or when the crown was placed on his head, stood behind
the bench in front of this seat. It is made of elegantly
carved oak, having towards one end of the front of the
canopy the arms of Lord Scone, with the motto ' Meliora
speroj and beneath, the words ' DAVID LORD SKONE.'
Towards the other end, in the corresponding place,
carved also in the oak, is a coat of arms, with what
seems to have been intended for the motto, * Nee temere,
nee timide' and beneath, ' ELIZABETH LADY SKONE,'
with the date 1616. The star and crescent had formed
part of the ornaments, and seem to have been highly

The Last Coronation in Scotland. 99

•gilded. Lord Scone, as appears from the inscription,
married Elizabeth Beaton, said to have been an ancient
baron's daughter of Crich — i.e., Creich, in Fifeshire."

The King remained at Scone only one day after the
coronation. On Thursday, the Committee of Estates
assembled in the Presence Chamber, but transacted no
business; and the King conferred the honour of knight-
hood on four gentlemen, the first of whom was the Laird
of Gask, and the receipt which he obtained from the
Lyon King shows the amount of fees paid by each of the
newly-dubbed knights for their honours : —

I, Sir James Balfour of Kinnaird, Knight, Lyon King of Arms,
for myself and in name of the remanent Heralds and Pursuivants,
grants me by the tenor hereof to have received from the hands of
Sir Lowrance Oliphant of Gask, Knight, the sum of ane hundred
merks money Scots, and that for his fees due to me and the said
Heralds and Pursuivants, for his honour and title of Knight con-
ferred upon him by the King's Majesty, exoners and discharges
him, and all others thereof whom it effeirs, by thir presents,
written by Andro Lytilcolne, Ross Herald : I have subscribed the
same with my hand at Perth, the tent day of Januar, 1651 years.

Sr JA. BALFOUR, Lyon.*

The 100 merks amounted to £66 133. 4d. Scots, or ^5
us. sterling. The King returned to Perth on Friday,
when he made other two knights.

* The Oliphant s in Scotland. Edited by Joseph Anderson.
Edinburgh : 1879, p. 205.

IOO Narratives from Scottisli History.

IV.

My love he stood for his true king,
Till standing it could do nae mair :

The day is lost, and sae are we ;
Nae wonder mony a heart is sair.

Jacobite Song.

AFTER the coronation, the political ascendancy of Argyle
and his party, the extreme section of the Covenanters,
rapidly declined. The Royalists, availing themselves of
the "Public Resolutions," crowded to the King's service,
and speedily their numbers and influence gave them the
preponderance in the national councils. Vigorously
were the preparations for war pushed forward, though
hampered by the covert antagonism of the faction who
were opposed to the employment of Malignants upon
any terms. On loth' January, 1651, the Committee of
Estates issued an order that every thousand merks of
valued rents in the counties should set forth a horse and
man for the cavalry.

The most of February was spent by the King in visit-
ing the fords of Forth, and various places both south
and north. On the i3th of March, the Parliament
assembled at Perth, and the royalist tendencies of the
majority became apparent at the very opening — the
Chancellor, Lord London, being rejected as President,
and Lord Burley chosen. All power departed from the
hands of Argyle and his friends ; and on the last day of
March, the Parliament, before it adjourned, conferred
the supreme command of the army upon the King.
" At the earnest solicitation of the Barons and Burghs,"

The Last Coronation in Scotland. 101

writes Balfour, " the King's Majesty takes upon him the
conduct of the army, with these words, that he was con-
fident there was none there that would distrust him,
since he had as much at the stake as any other whatso-
ever had ; forby the oath of God which was on him as
their King, yea, their Covenanted King ; and the
preservation of his kingdom, friends, and his own
person too, which was a natural bond likewise."

A mint-house was established at Dundee ; and the
current value of the gold and silver coinage of the king-
dom, including foreign silver money in circulation, was
raised by Parliament. But when the Cromwellians
gained the ascendancy, they cried it down to its former
rates by proclamation, dated 29th December, 1651.

It is worthy of note that while King Charles kept
royal state in Perth, he was one day presented with a
live Capercailzie — a species of bird which, though once
numerous in the Scottish Highlands, was now become
exceedingly scarce. The King, who had never seen
such a creature before, was pleased to accept of the gift
'• as a variety."

Tne Court removed from Perth to Stirling, where the
army was mustered. There two traitors were discovered
in the camp. Balfour tells that on 25th April, " Archi-
bald Hamilton, brother to Robert Hamilton of Milburne,
for giving daily intelligence to Oliver Cromwell and the
sectarian enemy, was arraigned of high treason, and con-
demned to be hanged on a gallows in chains, so long as
one bone could hang at another of him, which sentence
was put to execution this day at Stirling." The other
traitor was a young man named Meine, son of John
Meine, merchant in Edinburgh, who having confessed,
on apprehension in May, that he was "a spy and a giver

IO2 Narratives from Scottish History.

of intelligence to Cromwell," was condemned to be
hung. But he " was pardoned of life by his Majesty, in
respect his father put him out to General Leslie as a
knave, and one corrupted by the English, and entreated
him to cause apprehend him."

The Parliament sat down at Stirling, on 2ist May.
The King's birthday, the 29th, was celebiated with
great rejoicing : and, says the contemporary author of
Monarchy Revived, " the town of Dundee, to express
their affections beyond all the rest, presented his Majesty
with a rich tent, six field-pieces of ordnance, and
advanced a brave regiment of horse for his service at
their own charges." On the 3oth May, Parliament
rescinded the tyrannical Act of Classes, thereby adding
fresh fuel to the flame which laged amongst a portion
of the Covenanters, who, though half Scotland lay at the
mercy of the Sectaries, never desisted from rending Kirk
and country with their insensate violence. The Com-
mission of Assembly had already expressed approval of
the Public Resolutions ; and on i6th July, the General
Assembly met at St. Andrews, and formally homolo-
gated the action of the Commission. This step was
protested against by two and twenty ministers — three of
whom the indignant Assembly deposed : and thenceforth
the Resolutioners and Protesters ranged themselves in
hostile camps.

The weather had been so inclement all the winter and
spring that Cromwell's military operations were much
circumscribed. Another cause which had kept the
English inactive for some time was an illness which over-
took their General, and which waxed so severe that
rumours flew abroad that he was dead. This was happy
news to the Scots. They became so fully persuaded of

The Last Coronation in Scotland. 103

his demise that when they sent in a trumpeter to Edin-
burgh bearing some message, he scoffingly told the
Roundhead soldiers that they were concealing their
commander's death, and he was only convinced of the
contrary by being brought into the presence of the living
Oliver himself. In fact, Cromwell was on the point of
being superseded. The English Parliament hearing of
his illness, proposed that he should lay down his
command, and return home until his health was restored1.
But the invalid recovered. The Scottish army, com-
manded by the King, with General Leslie and the Duke
of Hamilton under him, was concentrated at the
Torwood, near Stirling, barring the passage by the fords
of Forth ; and the broad waters of the Firth lay between
the enemy and the province of Fife. As soon as Crom-
well was in condition to take the field, he advanced
upon the Torwood, endeavouring to draw the Scots
from their vantage ground ; but they, having profited!
by the terrible lesson of Dunbar, calmly maintained
their unassailable position, and he retired. His next
resource was to venture the crossing of the Firth, with
the design of forcing his enemy to meet him in the open
field, where he did not doubt of victory. It was, there-
fore, of vital importance to the Scottish cause that the
coast of Fife should be strongly guarded against him.
On Sabbath, 6th July, the citizens of Perth, in compli-
ance with a royal mandate, assembled in the South Inch,
probably after hearing a stirring sermon, and selected a
hundred men of their number to proceed to Burntisland
to assist in watching the coast. The officers for this
party were the following : Captain — Andrew Butter, Dean
of Guild ; Lieutenant — John Davidson, Notary Public ;
Ensign — James Dykes. But the watching of the coast

JO4 Narratives from Scottisli History.

•seems to have been very perfunctorily performed. By a
masterly manoeuvre, Cromwell succeeded, on iyth July,
in passing over a small body of troops to the north side
of the Firth. This detachment was led by Colonel
Overton, who, in the teeth of opposition, made good
his footing at the Queensferry. The invaders plundered
Inverkeithing, and threw up entrenchments upon the
crags. The same spot was famous for the descent of a
party of English in 1317, during the absence of Bruce
in Ireland ; but the enemy were speedily driven to their
ships by the intrepidity of Bishop Sinclair of Dunkeld,
who, being in the neighbourhood, put himself, spear in
hand, at the head of a band of his countreymen, and led
them to the charge. Sorely needed was the honest,
sturdy, patriotic spirit of a Bishop Sinclair in the hour
of Roundhead aggression !

The King was very indignant to hear of the landing,
and ordered immediate attack. Before anything could
be done, however, Cromwell managed to hurry over
fresh troops under Lambert, raising the English strength
at Inverkeithing to about 4000 men. A Scottish force
of rather superior numbers was despatched thither from
Stirling, the leaders being General Sir John Brown of
Fordel, and General Holburne or Hepburn of Menstrie,
the latter of whom was afterwards suspected of being
traitorous to the cause. The Perth men at Burntisland
left their post, and joined the Stirling party. On Sunday,
2oth July, the Roundheads at Inverkeithing marched
out of their entrenchments, and engaged the Scots on
the braes between Pitrevie Castle and Balbougie House.
The Royalists fought with great bravery, especially the
Maclean clansmen, who were headed by their young
Chief, Sir Hector of Duart. It was this conflict which

The Last Coronation in Scotland. 105

-called forth the memorable instance of clannish attach-
ment and self-devotion which Sir Walter Scott worked
up with such thrilling effect in his picture of the Battle
of the Inch. One of the Macleans, the foster-father of
the Chief, was attended by his seven sons, all of whom
perished in Sir Hector's defence — " the old man, when-
ever one of his boys fell, thrusting forward another to
fill his place at the right hand of the beloved Chief, with
the very words adopted in the novel — ' Another for
Hector ! ' ' The Scots were finally defeated with heavy
slaughter. They left 2000 men stretched on the field,
among whom were the Chief of Maclean and 100 of his
followers ; and 600 prisoners were captured, one being
General Brown, who was wounded and soon after died
at Leith, of a fever. The General had been one of the
members for Perthshire in the Parliament of 1649.
This victory, by giving Cromwell access to Fife, alto-
gether neutralized the advantages of the King's position
at Stirling. The Battle of Inverkeithing was the turning-
point of the campaign. Another association with Crom-
well has been claimed by the locality — a tradition
averring that his wife was born in the adjacent Castle of
Rosyth !

After sharing in the sanguinary struggle on the braes
near Inverkeithing, the survivors of ihe Perth company
were led back to their native city by their centurions.
The town had now need of all her sons ; for doubtless
the enemy's approach would be speedy, unless the King
interposed to fight another battle in Fife. The King
j*. had a different plan in his head ; and Cromwell, with no
conception of the project which desperation was suggest-
ing to Charles, crossed the Forth. The island of Inch-
garvie and the town of Burntisland having surrendered

io6 Narratives from Scottish History.

to him, he began his northward progress, on 3oth July
— traversed Fife, where no hand was lifted against him^
and directed the heads of his columns towards St.
Johnstoun, which had so recently been the royal head-
quarters.

The town, says the writer of Robert Blair's Life, was
deemed " pretty strong, both by water and ditches."
It was surrounded by a wall, outside of which on three
sides ran the deep fosse filled by the waters of the lade
from the Almond, and which probably was flooded daily,
all round the circuit of the fortifications, by the tides of
the Tay. The wall had towers at the angles, but it was
old and unfitted 10 resist the battering train which,
Cromwell could bring to bear upon it, and there were
only four pieces of artillery in the place. Nor was there
a sufficient garrison, until the King ordered Lord Duffus
(late Sir Alexander Sutherland, who was created a Baron
in December, 1650) to hasten, at the head of 600
soldiers, to the relief of the city : and this party arrived
on the evening of the 3151 of July. But it would appear
that the citizens and magistrates were by no means
disposed to hold out. The gates were formally shut;
and next day (Friday, ist August) Cromwell and his
troops appeared before the walls. By the instigation
of John Davidson, the Notary, empty carts were diiven
up and down the streets, accompanied with fife and
drum, to deceive the enemy into the belief that cannon
were being planted and everything getting ready for a
vigorous defence. We cannot tell whether Oliver was
deluded by this ruse ; but that he was ignorant of the
presence of Duffus and his men seems evident from ihe
summons which he now sent to the citizens, and which
was to this effect : " that being informed that the town.

The Last Coronation in Scotland. . 107

was void of a garrison, save the inhabitants and some
few countrymen, he required them to deliver the same
to him immediately ; promising to secure their persons
from violence, and their goods from plunder." Contrary
to expectation, the messenger was not admitted into the
city, and his letter was rejected, the magistraies inform-
ing him " that they were not in a capacity to receive
letters." Shortly afterwards, however, a message from
the magistrates themselves was brought out to Cromwell,
stating " that the King's Majesty had sent a very strong
party, able to maintain the town ; that they were over-
powered by Lord Duffus, as Governor ; but that they
had obtained leave from him to make this c^mmunica-
tion shewing how they were unable to treat." Cromwell
forthwith proceeded to bring the obstinate Governor to
reason. He took measures to drain the water out ot the
tosse, and to baticr the wall. It is said that one battery
cannoned the town all night, and that some lives were
lost on both sides. Defence became hopeless ; and,
according to Blair's biographer, " the town's people, and
strangers in it (Cromwell having summoned them to
render, otherwise he would have it and put it all to
the edge of the sword), did entreat Duffus to render
the town." The white flag was hoisted on Saturday
morning. Good condiiions were offered to the besieged :
the gates were thrown open, and Lord Duffus marched
out with all the honours of war. Cromwell was received
by the Provost, Andrew Grant, who conducted him and
his chief officers to Davidson, the Notary's house, sup-
posed to have been situated on the east side of the
Watergate, where a repast was provided for the party.
But the patriotic Notary warily kept out of the way.

loS Narratives from Scottish History.

An apocryphal story is told in the Notes to the Muses
Threnodie, that when the English leaders had seated
themselves in the Notary's mansion, Andrew Reid, the
wealthy merchant, who had lent the 40,000 merks
towards the Coronation expenses, " came in, and was
introduced to Cromwell, to whom he presented the Bond
granted by King Charles to him. Cromwell returned it,
and said he had nothing to do with it, as he neither was
Charles' heir nor executor. To whom Reid replied, ' If
your excellency is neither heir nor executor, you are
surely a vitious intromitter.' Cromwell, turning to the
company, declared that he never had such a bold tale
told him. Immediately after Cromwell's departure from
Mr. Davidson's house, the side-wall fell down, and
Davidson said he wished it had fallen a quarter of an
hour sooner, though he, Samson-like, had perished in
the ruins." Such is the story, which we give for what it
is worth. The magazines of provisions, arms, and
ammunition in the town, which had been collected for
the use of the royal army, fell a prey to the Round-
heads.

But Cromwell, on entering Perth, received confirma-
tion of flying rumours which had reached his ears before
the walls, occasioning him great disquietude. The
King and his army had suddenly broken up their camp
at Stirling, on 3ist July, and taken a southward route.
It was a rash and desperate enterprise, which the
circumstances, disheartening as they were, did not really
warrant. Cromwell's object in pushing his way through
Fife to Perth was manifestly to cut off the royal supplies
from the eastern and northern provinces, and such
would have been the effect to a degree. But the King's
resources were not utterly exhausted ; the west and

TJie Last Coronation in Scotland. 109

south-west were clear of the enemy ; the clans could be
trusted in defending the passes of their own rugged hills;
and Cromwell was in no condition to carry on a pro-
longed campaign, in a hostile country, with the dread of
winter before him. A Fabian policy on the part of the
Scots, varied with skilful desi'ltory warfare, would have
resulted in Cromwell's retreat. That course, however,
found no favour. Ths King's inexperience in military
matters yielded to the opinion of a dispirited Council
that all was lost in Scotland, and that his last card
should be played across the Border, where the English
Cavaliers would flock in crowds to his standard. He
could reach England sooner than Cromwell could ; and
therefore it was expected, with some reason, that by
forced marches the Scottish army would penetrate to the
heart of the country, and overturn the Commonwealth
Government before its General could come to its aid.
The King and his advisers threw all upon the hazard of
the die, and hurried south at the head of 18,000 men.

Cromwell, who thought to have compelled the King
to offer battle, but never dreamed of an invasion of
England, was not disconcerted. He took instant action,
resolving to pursue the Scots with all speed. He
arranged that General Monk, with 6000 men, should
remain behind to carry out the conquest of Scotland ;
and Colonel Overton was appointed Governor of Perth,
with a garrison composed of two regiments (foot and
horse), and four troops of dragoons — soldiers who fought
on horseback or on foot as occasion required, a fact
which explains the lines in Hudibras describing the
Independents as

A mongrel kind of church-dragoons,
That serv'd for horse and foot at once.

no Narratives from Scottish History,

Having thus settled matters — and apparently without
spending Saturday night in Perth — Cromwell and his
troops hastened through Fife ; and from Leith, on
Monday, 4th August, he sent a despatch to the Speaker
of the House of Commons, detailing his movements : —

" In pursuance of the Providence of God, and that blessing
lately given to your forces in Fife ; and finding that the Enemy,
being masters of the Pass at Stirling, could not be gotten uut there
except by hindering his provisions at St. Johnston ; knowing that
that would necessitate him to quit his Pass. Wherefore, leaviug
with Major-General Harrison about three thousand horse and
dragoons, besides those which are with Colonel Rich, Colonel
Saunders, and Colonel Barton, upon the Borders, we marched to
St. Johnston, and lying one day before it, we had it surrendered
to us.

" During which time we had some intelligence of the enemy's
marching southward ; though with some contradictions, as if it had
not been so. But doubting it might be true, we (leaving a garrison
in St. Johnston, and sending Lieutenant General Monk with about
five or six thousand to Stirling to reduce that place, and by it to
put your affairs into a good posture in Scotland) marched, with all
possible expedition, back again ; and have passed our foot and
many of our horse over the Firth this day ; resolving to make
what speed we can up to the enemy — who, in bis desperation and
fear, and out of inevitable necessity, is run to try what he can do
this way."

It was a full month until Cromwell came to blows
with King Charles; but in that short space, the inde-
fatigable Monk subjugated Scotland more thoroughly
than ever the English had done before. Stirling Castle,
which he first assailed, fell into his hands after the
faintest show of resistance. He next turned his arms
against Dundee, whose garrison, under a brave and
patriotic Governor, and animated by the best spirit,
offered a stubborn defence. But on 28th August, while

77/6' Last Coronation in Scotland. 1 1 1

yet the siege lasted, a deplorable misfortune befel the
Committee of Estates and several leading members of
Assembly. They had met at Alyth with other noblemen
and gentlemen to devise measures for the relief ol Dundee,
but, in the midst of their deliberations, they were sur:
prised by a troop of Roundhead cavalry, and almost all
taken prisoners ! Amongst the reverend captives were
Robert Douglas, who had officiated at the Coronation ;
James Sharp, afterwards the Archbishop ; and John
Rattray, minister of Alyth : the Kirk-Session book of
which parish contains a characteristic notice of the
seizure — "August the last day, 1651. This day no
preaching : because our minister was taken on Thursday
last by the Englishes, being the 28 of August, 1651."
The whole of the prisoners were carried by sea .to
England. More disaster followed. Everything con-
nected with Royalist affairs was ruined. On the ist
September, Dundee was stormed and taken, and Monk
disgraced his victory by a brutal massacre in which
many soldiers of Lord Duffus' regiment perished. At
this time, writes Blair's biographer, " Scotland was at a
very low ebb," so soon after the "high noon" vaunted
by the imaginative Kirkton ! — " none either shut up or
left to resist the enemy, except a few with Balcarres and
Sir Arthur Forbes, who retired to the far north. The
only outward thing that did support the people of God
was their hopes of the success and prosperity of the
army in England."

Such hopes were soon dashed, and the cup of humilia-
tion ran over. The Scottish army in its progress through
England received no accession of strength. The
presence of the King failed to rouse the Cavaliers to
action, and his forces became reduced, by constant

1 1 2 Narratives from Scottish History.

desertions, from 18,000 to 11,000 men; and finally he
was hemmed in at Worcester by Cromwell's army of
15,000 soldiers. The decisive struggle took place on
3rd September — the great Roundhead's " fortunate day,"
the anniversary of Dunbar. Sallying out of the city,
under the eye of their King, the Scots gave battle with
the utmost gallantry. Fortune wavered ; but in the
very crisis, when a charge of the Scottish cavalry might
have given the victory to the King, David Leslie failed,
He had the command of the horse, and absolutely
declined to lead them to the fray, making himself an
inglorious exemplar of " masterly inactivity." In his
retreat northwards, he was overtaken by the Cromwellian
pursuers. Even then he would not fight — perhaps pre-
tending to see "the visible hand of God ;' — and tamely
surrendered with all his troops ! No wonder that with
such " laikness " in a commander, the brave Scottish
army was overthrown.

The battle was Cromwell's " crowning mercy." In
his despatch to the Speaker of Parliament, written on
the same night, he said — " Indeed this hath been a very
glorious mercy, and as stiff a contest, for four or five
hours, as ever I have seen." The King fled — to pass
through the marvellous concealment at Boscobel, before
he escaped from England. About 2000 Scots fell, and
probably about 6000 were taken prisoners. Oliver was
so elated with this transcendent success, that he wanted
on the spot to confer knighthood upon his Generals,
Lambert and Fleetwood, and was with much difficulty
dissuaded from exercising at his own hand what was the
prerogative of Royalty alone.

The common prisoners at Worcester shared the like

The Last Coronation in Scotland. 1 1 3

shair.eful fate with those of Dunbar — the greater number
being sold as slaves for the plantations !

The curtain had fallen upon a stage crowded with all
the horrors of battle and massacre ; and when it rose
again, on the last act of the tragedy, the gloomy scene
disclosed Scotland discrowned, faint and bleeding, and
chained to the chariot wheel of the conqueror.

Search history, ancient or modern, and scarce a
parallel will be found to the egregious round of folly
which crushed Scotland to the dust. When and where
was the flower of any other people led forth like beasts
to the slaughter by so overweening and self-righteous a
faction as at Dunbar ? Nor was it one army only that
perished. Two armies, each powerful enough to have
successfully defended the national independence, had
been destroyed, solely through the incompetency of
their leaders. And this was the miserable end of Scot-
land's long struggle for the supremacy of her Covenants
— that she and her Covenants should be trampled under
foot of the Sectaries !

Scotland never saw another Coronation. Sixty-five
years passed, and there seemed a chance of her again
witnessing such a spectacle. The Chevalier de St.
George, the nephew of King Charles, came to Scone,
and his adherents proposed that he should be crowned ;
but the advance of the royal troops scattered the in-
surgents and dissipated the vision of a Coronation.

V. — The Evelick Tragedy.

A lamentable tale of things

Done long ago, and ill done.

John Ford — " The Lover's Aft lane holy."

You have bloodily approv'd the ancient truth,
That kindred commonly do worse agree
Than remote strangers.

John Webster s " Ditches s of Ma if y."

THE great house of Lindsay in Scotland is believed to
have sprung from Anglo-Norman ancestry. Some mem-
bers of the Norman family of Limesay settled in England
under William the Conqueror ; and soon after the Con-
quest, an offshoot of the same race, called Lindsay
(which surname is but another orthographical form of
Limesay, both signifying "Isle of Limetrees") was
established on the Scottish border. In 1116, a Baron,
Walter de Lindsay, apparently the head of this Border
branch, was a witness or juror in the Inquisitio made by
David I., while Prince of Strathclyde, concerning the
possessions and rights of the see of Glasgow. The seat
of these Lindsays was at Ercildoune, in Roxburghshire ;
but thriving apace, they acquired extensive domains in
114

The Eve lick Tragedy. 1 1 5

various provinces of Scotland. In process of time their
feudal power, their high and active spirit, and their hold
and chivalrous bearing in war, gave them weighty
influence in national affair?. The oldest of their two
peerages — the Earldom of Crawford— was conferred,
2ist April, 1398, by Robert III., upon Sir David
Lindsay of Glenesk, who had married that monarch's
sister, Catharine, with whom he received the barony of
Strathnairn in Inverness-shire. A pallant champion was
Sir David. Eight years before he was ennobled, and
when he was scarcely five-and-lwenty, he repaired to the
English Court to answer the challenge of Lord Welles,
and in a passage of arms on London Bridge, overthrew
the boastful Southron and granted him his life. About
two years after this exploit, a party of the Clan Donnachie
of Athol, led by a son of the Wolf of Badenoch, foraved
Glenisla in Angus. Lindsay, gathering his friends and
retainers, hastened to intercept the marauders, with
whom he encountered, and a fierce conflict was fought.
The Robertsons were discomfited with much slaughter ;
but in the midst of the melee, Sir David's life was placed
in great jeopardy. Clad in panoply of mail, and
mounted on his war-steed, he bore down all before him.
Thrusting his spear at one of the reivers, he transfixed
him, and pinned him to the ground ; but the Gael
writhed himself up against the lance, and swinging his
ponderous broadsword, dealt Lindsay a blow on the leg,
cutting through the greave or steel boot and penetrating
to the bone ! The wound was a dangerous one, but
fortunately did not prove fatal. Earl David died in
February, 1406-7, at the Castle of Finhaven, which he
had built, and was buried in the family vault under the
Church of the Grevfriars, within the Howff of Dundee.

1 1 6 Narratives from Scottish History.

He was succeeded by his eldest son, Alexander. On
the second Earl's death in 1439, David, his son, became
third Earl of Crawford.

This noble did not long enjoy his honours. When
the proud and aspiring William, eighth Earl of Douglas,
sought to dominate over James II. and the kingdom,
the Earl of Crawford joined him in his confederacy.
The King's friends, Archbishop Kennedy of St. Andrews
and Sir William Crichton, endeavoured to disintegrate
the Douglas party and win over as many of them as
they could to the royal side, which so incensed Crawford
that he determined to revenge his cause upon the
Bishop. Supported by his kinsman, Alexander Ogilvie
of Innerquharity, and others, the angry Earl made a
sudden and sweeping raid upon the Primate's lands in
Fife, spreading havoc and destruction with unsparing
hand, and carrying away a prodigious quantity of spoil.
This ruthless incursion took place in January 1444-5.
The aggrieved Bishop immediately hurled the thunders
of the Church against his enemy, excommunicating the
Earl, with bell, book, and candle, for the space of a year.
Loudly the Earl laughed the ecclesiastical fulmination to
scorn ; but ere the twelve months were out, the supersti-
tious age was gratified with a catastrophe which seemed
to mark the vengeance of heaven. The " light Lindsays "
became involved in a new embroglio with the Church.
The Abbot and Convent of Aberbrothock had appointed
the Earl's eldest son, Alexander, Master of Crawford,
an arrogant, fiery, and lawless youth, as the Justiciar or
Civil Judge of the Regality of the Abbey. Soon after
his appointment, the Master rendered himself burden-
some to the Abbey by frequently repairing thither, and
taking up his quarters within the hallowed pile, accom-

The Evelick Tragedy. \ \ 7

panied by disorderly bands of followers, who ate and
drank the monastic beef and ale ad libitum. Oppressed
by such a course of sorning, the Abbot remonstrated
again and again, but to no purpose ; and at length the
Convent formally deprived their ravenous Justiciar of
the office which he was abusing, and conferred it upon
Alexander Ogilvie of Innerquharity, who seems to have
had some hereditary claim to it. At once ensued a
serious breach between the Lindsays and Ogilvies.

It was now the month of January, 1445-6, and at this
perilous juncture the Earl of Crawford was spending the
winter in Dundee, where he had a spacious mansion or
"lodging" in the Nethergate, extending from that street
southwards to the bank of the Tay, and forming the
most imposing residence in the burgh. His son, acting
for himself and taking no counsel with his father, re-
solved to hold his Justiciary with the strong hand, and
straightway inarched upon the Abbey, which he seized
and garrisoned with his retainers, 1000 strong. The
Ogilvies, on their part, flew to arms, and gathering their
utmost strength, advanced towards Arbroath to expel
the Lindsays. Sabbath, the 9th of January, saw the
Master's forces drawn out in battle array in front of the
Abbey, to meet their rivals. But just when the two
bodies of armed men were about to engage in deadly
strife, a rider on a foam-flecked steed suddenly gallopped
in between them. This was the Earl of Crawford, who
having been informed in Dundee, that morning, of the
impending feud, had sprung on horseback, and never
drawn bridle till he reached the scene where kinsmen
and friends were preparing to spill each other's blood.
Eager to prevent hostilities he rode between the lines,
entreating both parties to pause, The Lindsays knew

i 1 8 Narratives from Scott is Ji History.

their lord, and probably most of the Ogilvies also
recognised him ; but, as it chanced, one of the latter
body, to whom the Earl was a stranger, resented his
interposition by attacking him as he approached too
closely. Before the Earl could defend himself, he was
thrust through the mouth and neck with a spear, and
flung from' his saddle mortally wounded. His retainers,
raising vengeful shouts, charged the Ogilvies with irre-
sistible impetuosity, scattering them in every direction.
When the day was won, the vanquished were found to
have left 500 killed and wounded on the field, and
among the latter was their chief, Innerquharity himself.
The Lindsays, who had likewise suffered somewhat con-
siderably, celebrated their victory by committing the
conventual Church of Arbroath to the flames, and then
quitted the fatal spot, canying with them their Earl and
their prisoner, Innerquharity, both of whom they con-
veyed to the Castle of Finhaven, where the Countess of
Crawford was residing. On arrival there, it soon became
manifest that the Earl could not survive many days,
whatever might be the result with Ogilvie. When the
Countess learned that there was no hope for her
husband, a paroxysm of grief, rage, and despair seemed
to transform her into a Fury. Flying to Innerquharity 's
sick chamber, she frantically pressed the pillows of the
bed upon the helpless man's face, and smothered him,
though he was her own kinsman and guiltless of the
Earl's blood ! Such was a wife's revenge. Her husband,
who was beyond all skill, lingered about a week in great
agony — dying on the lyth of the month. It was
observed by the people that he received his death-
wound on that very day twelve-months on which he had
harried the lands of St. Andrews. Besides, the ana-

The Evelick Tragedy. \ 1 9

thema of the Church still hung over the dead man, and
sepulture in consecrated ground could not be given to
his body until the excommunication was recalled. This,
however, Bishop Kennedy did, on being humbly peti-
tioned ; and the Earl was buried in Dundee. Inner-
quharity's body was consigned to his friends, who
interred him in an aisle of the Church of Kinnell,
where, until the demolition of that old edifice in 1855,
this inscription, it is said, was to be seen —

While girss grows green and water rins clear,
Lat nane but Ogilvies lie here.

The slain Earl of Crawford left five sons, Alexander,.
Walter, William, John, and James. The eldest son, the
Master, victor at the battle of Arbroath, succeeded his
father in his lands and honours, and by a subsequent
career of turmoil and violence, earned for himself the
title of Tiger Earl, and also, from the length of his
beard, that of Earl Beardie. But him and two of his
brothers we now leave — our business being to point out
that the third son, William, called of Lekoquhy, was the
ancestor of the Lindsays of Evelick and Kilspindie, in
the Carse of Gowrie.

William Lindsay of Lekoquhy died in 1468, without
issue, and was succeeded by his immediate elder brother,
Walter, who left a son, David. In 1497, David
Lindsay, then called of Montago, renounced Lekoquhy,
and afterwards the family was known by the territorial
designation of Evelick. We find that John Lindsay of
Evelick signed his marriage contract in 1551, and seems
to have survived till the beginning of the following
century. He left two sons, Patrick and Alexander.

The lands of Evelick and Montago lie in the parish

i 2O Narratives from Scottish History.

of Kilspindie, on the braes of the Carse of Gowrie — a
region of great natural beauty and picturesqueness.
The highest hill in the parish is that of Evelick. which
rises to the height of 832 feet above ihe level of the sea.
It is somewhat conical in shape, and is covered with
verdure to the summit, which affords a wide and noble
•prospect of mountain, vale, and river — northwards the
fair expanse of Strathmore, beyond which the blue
•Grampians hound the horizon, and southwards, the
Carse below, spread ( ut like a map, fringed by the
broad, silvery flood of the Tay, across which appear the
shores of Fife, and in the distance the Lomonds towering
to the region of clouds. Evelick hill was chosen for a
•defensive post by the Caledonian tribes of yore, who
. constt ucted on its top a circular fortification — the re-
mains of which are still to be seen — consisting of an
outer and an inner wall of stone, enclosing about half an
;acre of ground, and surrounded by a deep fosse.
Perhaps this was a place of strength when the land of
the Carse was but a morass, flooded at every tide, or
when the wateis of the Tay flowed in to the very base of
the hills. It is maintained that, in some pre-historic
era, the Carse formed the channel of the Tny, which,
after sweeping along the bottom of the Sidlaws, ran into
its present course at Invergowrie ; or that the river
•divided itself into two branches, one keeping the present
channel, and the other skirting the hills — the inter-
-mediate space being a marsh, dotted with elevations.
That, at a remote period, most part of the level ground
of the Carse lay under water, seems undoubted. The
higher portions still retain the name of Inches or Islands,
thereby showing that they were once surrounded with
water, and in fact the soil of which they are composed is

The Evelick Tragedy. 121

entirely different from that of the circumjacent plain.
Staples and rings for ropes to secure boats have been
found fastened in the rocks at the foot of the hills ; and
there is a tradition that the parish of St. Madoes was at
one time situated on the southern bank of the Tay !
As we have said, Evelick Hill was a Caledonian Fort ;
but the old keep or casile of the Lindsays was built at a
little distance south-east of the height, as if to command
the pass leading between the Carse and Strathmore, and
where, to this day, its roofless, mouldering walls court
the attention of the wayfarer.

Patrick Lindsay, who is met with in records as " fiar
of Evelick" in 1593, succeeded to the family inheritance
on the death of his father, John. But in a short time
afterwards he sold the Evelick estate to his brother,
Alexander, and assumed to himself the territorial desig-
nation of Ardinbathy. This Alexander Lindsay rose to
distinction, and occupies some space in the ecclesiastical
history of Scotland. Being a younger brother, he was
educated for the Presbyterian Church, and in 1591 was
ordained minister of the Carse parish of St. Madoes.
He seems to have been a man of unaffected piety and
blameless life and conversation, attending zealously to
his duties as a pastor. At the same time, however, he
supported the views of James VI. regarding the in-
troduction of a modified Episcopacy into the Church of
Scotland, and the royal eye being attracted favourably
towards him, he became a frequent and welcome visitor
at Court, and was on the high road to preferment. In
1607 he was created Bishop of Dunkeld, and afterwards
obtained, by purchase, the estate of Evelick. From
year to year he continued to discharge the duties of his
parish and his diocese with simple zeal and singleness of
9

122 Narratives from Scottish History.

heart, and kept on friendly terms with many of the
opposing party in the Church.

When the stormy days of the Covenant came, all the
Scottish Bishops were deposed ; but the Bishop of
Dunkeld, on making due submission to the high-handed
General Assembly of 1638, was continued in his parish
of St. Madoes. His days, however, were closing. Far
advanced in age, he died before the end of the year
1639, leaving two sons, Alexander and William. The
youngest attained to an independent position in 1625
by obtaining from a relative the lands called of Kil-
spindie, to which he got a Charter in the same year,
and thus founded a branch of the Carse Lindsays. The
eldest son, Alexander, succeeded to the Evelick estate.
He survived the Restoration, and died in 1663, leaving
a son, also named Alexander, who in 1666 was created
a Baronet. Sir Alexander was twice married — his first
union being in his father's lifetime, as recorded in
Lament's Chronicle of Fife: "1658, April 26.— The
young Laird of Evelick, in the Brae of the Carse of
Gowry, married Fotheringame, sister to the

deceased the Laird of Powry. The marriage feast stood
at Fowlls, the Mr. of Gray's house in Angus." Of this
marriage came two sons, Thomas and Alexander, and
two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret. After his lady's
decease, Sir Alexander was united to Rachel Kirkwood,
the widow of a Mr. William Douglas, who has been
designated " Advocate and Poet," and who left her with
one son, James, a stripling of about the same age as
Thomas, the heir of Evelick, and two or more daughters.

Thus we have brought upon the stage the step-
brothers of Evelick, the story of whose dismal tragedy
it is our purpose to rehearse.

The Eve lick Tragedy. 123

It might be about the year 1680 when Sir Alexander
Lindsay brought home his second lady to Evelick : and
at that period the Carse of Cowrie was a bare, marshy,
rudely cultivated stretch of country. Laborious, but
ill-remunerating was the tillage of the wet clay soil ; the
fields were unenclosed ; the brae-sides were left in much
of their natural wildness ; the roads were narrow and
execrably bad ; and the total absence of drainage made
the ague a general and inveterate distemper among the
people. But, eventually, a great change was wrought :
and by the middle of the eis^hteenth century, agricultural
improvement had taken immense strides in a district
which was destined to become as the garden of Scotland.
When Mr. Pennant passed through the Carse in 1772 he
was struck with the luxuriance of its fertility : " It is
covered with corn of every species," he wrote; "peas
and clover are in great perfection ; varied with orchards,
plantations, and gentlemen's seats. The roads are
planted on each side with trees, which, with the vast
richness of the country, reminded me of Flanders ; and
the extensive corn-lands, with the mud-houses," con-
tinued he, " immediately brought before me the idea
of Northamptonshire. It agrees with the last also in
finding during summer a great scarcity of water for
common uses, and a great lack of fuel all winter : so
that the following is become a proverbial saying (false, I
trust, in the last instance) that the Carse of Cowrie
wants water all summer, fire all winter, and the grace of
God all the year through." *

As testified by this proverb, the Car^e, notwithstand-
ing its amelioration of condition, lay under some of that

* Pennant's Tour in Scotland, part ii., p. 120.

124 Narratives from Scottish History.

ill-natured popular reproach, which our forefathers were
so fond of applying to certain places, classes, and
families. William Lithgow, the traveller, who traversed
the Carse, in 1627, said that "for its levelled face," he
might term it " the garden of Angus, yea the diamond-
plot of Tay," but added — " the inhabitants being only
defective in affableness, and communicating courtesies
of natural things, whence sprung this proverb, The
kearles [carles or chuils] of the Carse?* The peasantry,
especially, seem to have got themselves into bad odour,
being held out as stolid, clownish, boorish. An anec-
dote is told of one of their Lairds who had been so
tried with the stupidity of his dependants that in a gust
of wrath he declared that he could make a more sensible
race of servants out of the clay of his own fields !
" Ah ! luckless speech and bootless boast ! " One
night as he was riding home, his horse stumbled, and
flung him head over heels into a clayhole, the depth of
which gave him no chance of extrication without
assistance, for which, therefore, he began bawling most
lustily. The cry of distress reached the ears of a
ploughman, homeward plodding his weary way, and
brought him to the spot. A gleam of moonlight dis-
closed the familiar face at the bottom of the pit. The
hind grinned, and to a renewed call for help, gave
answer — " O ! it's you, Laiid ? I see — you're making
your men ? Aweel, I'll no disturb you : " and away he
went. That man was by no means a dolt. We doubt
not that the idiosyncrasies of the peasantry were exag-
gerated, because misunderstood, by strangers ; yet it
cannot be overlooked that even so late as 1792, the

* Lithgow's Nineteen Yeats' Travels. London: 1682, p. 473.

The Eve lick Tragedy. 125

Rev. Anthony Dow (afterwards D.D.), Minister of Kil-
spindie, in his Statistical Account of that parish, pub-
lished same year, characterised the "common people in
the Carse " as in general, " dull, obstinate, rude, and
unmannerly ; fond of dress to an extreme." The men-
servants, he also says, " have no idea of submitting to
any little economical employment at a winter fire-side.
Bid them mend a corn-sack, and they will fly in your
face."* The same faults, we daresay, were prevalent in
other quarters among the same class ; and at all events
the old-fashioned, disagreeable manners and habits
disappeared with the old-fashioned times, and the
" Carles " are extinct like the Dodo.

A good deal of the superstitious lore which was in
full vogue in the seventeenth century, lingered long
about the Carse, and particularly with the denizens of
the braes. Within living memory, the grey-haired sires
of the hamlets told endless stories of Witches, Warlocks,
Ghosts, Fairies, Brownies, Water Kelpies, and other
supernaturalisms. Robbie Curr, the miller of Trotack
Mill, who has lain at rest for many a year in the Kirk-
yard of Rait, was known to a former generation as the
chief of those inexhaustible narrators.

Fays, spunkies, kelpies, a' he could explain them,
And even the very deils did brawly ken them.

One of his most surprising stories related to the last
Mermaid seen in the Tay. This syren used to come to
the banks of Dallela, and comb her yellow locks that
glistened in the summer sunshine like hanks of gold,
while she sang with " such dulcet and harmonious

* Sinclair's Statistical Account of Scotland, vol. iv., pji. 207, 208.

126 Narratives from Scottish History.

breath" as ravished every mortal ear that listened.
Some of the country folks planned her capture, and by
dint of a subtle stratagem effected their purpose, binding
her securely, and carrying her off in triumph to the
nearest farm-house. There they found nobody but a
young maid-servant, who was busily engaged making
"meal kail" for dinner. Leaving the mystic prisoner
in the kitchen under the care of this lass, the men dis-
persed to bring in all the neighbourhood to behold the
wonder. ,The Mermaid remained for some minutes
mute, but when she observed the girl skimming the pot
on the fire with a ladle, she broke out into singing :—

Skim the kail, bonny May — in the sea caves,

Amang coral, and crystal, and pearls, I dwell;
Where the firmament over my head's the blue waves,

And the yellow sand forms the floor o' my cell :
And in the sea grottoes is gowd yet unminted,

And gey muckle lumps amang friends I may deal;
When Mermaids deal favours they maunna be stinted —

Skim the kail, bonny May, skim aye the kail.

Skim the kail, bonny May — O, they are husky !

Fling by the skimmings for them that are hungry.
I ken o' ane wha in silks fain wad busk ye:

Skim the kail, bonny May, or I'll be angry.
Skim the kail, bonny May — I'll wave on Willie ; *

For pearl and coral beads he'll send the seal ;
At gloaming you'll gather them where the stream's shallow ;

Skim the kail, bonny May, skim aye the kail.

The bonny May, pleased with the sweet, wild, nattering
strain, skimmed as she was bidden ; and marvellous to
relate, at every skimming of the kail-pot, such was the

* Willie Water-wraith, the Kelpie.

The Evelick Tragedy. 127

power of enchantment that a knot of the Mermaid's
bonds quietly unloosened of itself, until at last they were
all gone, and then she shook off the idle cords, and
sprang to the door, and swiftly floundered her way down
to the river side. With a scream of exuberant delight
she plunged into the sparkling flood, and as she glided
away with the grace of a swan, while the breeze playfully
scattered her shining tresses, she again raised her melli-
fluous voice in song : —

O, now I am as free

As the blue waves o' the sea,

And to other seas I'll hasten away ;
And the Mermaid that sang
Near Dallela braes sac lang,

Shall never mair come back to the Tay.

To sunny seas I'll swim,

And the flowery banks I'll climb,

And on coral rocks I'll sing all the day ;
Where the sands \vi' gowd are glancing,
And at nicht the fire-flees dancing ;

And I'll never mair come back to the Tay.

The Mermaid aye gets friends
Where the summer never ends —

Through the waves wi' the Dolphin I'll stray :
And never, never mair
Will I kame my yellow hair,

On the bonny, bonny banks o' the Tay.

The valedictory flow of melody died on the face of the
waters : and from that day to this the Tay has never
been visited by a Syren of the deep. And now to our
proper theme after so lengthened a digression.

Whether the knight of Evelick's second marriage was
one of interest merely or of mutual affection, is out of

128 Narratives from Scott isli History.

our knowledge, and matters nothing to the history. The
lady's son, James Douglas, and his sisters, came with
their mother to live in family with the Lindsays, and to
all appearance were treated by their step-father and his
children with the utmost kindness and cordiality. Soon,
however, an evil passion arose to mar the peace of the
household, and ultimately to overwhelm it with grief
and disgrace. Unfortunately young Douglas gradually
conceived an envious jealousy and ill-will towards
Thomas, the heir of Evelick, who was of the same age,
both lads being certainly under nineteen. Let us
suppose that the former, as the only son of his parents,
had been a petted, pampered, and spoiled child, growing
up a froward, self-willed, obstinate boy, full of his own
consequence, and impatient of control, which probably
his mother, in her mistaken fondness, had rarely exer-
cised over him with any degree of firmness. In this
view we can come to understand the motive-springs of
what followed. If, therefore, a vain and domineering
nature had been fostered in him by parental indulgence,
his feelings of foolish self-importance must have been
daily wounded after Evelick became his home; for there
he was confronted with rivals — at least with one
especial rival, in the person of the heir, who was looked
up to, we may well conclude, by all the servants as their
future lord and master, and to whom they would
necessarily pay incessant court, praising all he said and
did, and doing him every little service in their power.
Compared with Thomas Lindsay, his step-brother, the
Advocate's son, though indeed born to comparative
affluence — a sum of ^2000 sterling, or rather more,
awaited his attainment of majority — was regarded as
nobody at all, if not as an interloper at Evelick. The

The Eve lick Tragedy. 129

boy felt all this keenly as an overshadowing of himself,
a lowering of every assumption to which he had been
habituated, a positive degradation in the face of the little
world in which he moved, and no effort of self-assenion
could place him on the same level with Lindsay. So far
as we can gather from the sad story, young Evelick per-
sonally gave no cause for those ungracious and em-
bittered feelings. He seems to have been a quiet,
simple-hearted, gentle boy, claiming no superiority, no
ascendancy over his new friend and play-fellow, and
altogether. unconscious of the hatred which was brood-
ing and deepening in the latter's breast. Perhaps James
Douglas made complaint to his mother; and she would
smile gravely, and stroke his head, and tell him that
discontent with one's lot was sinful, that he ought to
live cheerful and happy, for that everbody loved him,
and the Lindsay family treated him as one of them-
selves. What could the lady think but that it was a
boyish dream, which would soon wear away? She
never dreamt of the intensity of hatred which was to
quench itself in blood. But another conjecture would
serve to throw the strongest light upon the secret work-
ings of her son's mind. Say that incipient insanity
was clouding his brain — or, to use a. milder term, that
hypochondria (to which, indeed, he was afterwards
alleged to have been subject) gave him to look upon
everything through a jaundiced, distorting medium, —
and we can see how " trifles light as air " conspired to
irritate his pride and kindle his fiercest passions.

Time brought round the summer of 1682. The
Merry Monarch still sat on the throne ; and the Perse-
cution was still running its fell course in Scotland.
Claverhouse and his troopers scoured the wilds of Gallo-

130 Narratives from Scottish History.

way. Nearly all the Champions of the Covenant had
perished. Many a death-psalm had been sung in the
Grassmarket. Richard Cameron had fallen sword in
hand at Airsmoss ; and Donald Cargill had sealed his
testimony at the Cross of Edinburgh. Their only suc-
cessor was James Renwick, and he was a hunted
wanderer. Desperate fanaticism had maddened into
the blasphemies of the Bo'ness sailor and his " Sweet
Singers of Israel." Nature heiself seemed out of joint.
In the beginning of the year, unearthly voices were
heard, in the west of Scotland, at the dead of night,
cr)ing "Help! help!" Spectres and prodigies were
seen in various parts of the country, and a deadly
murrain broke out among the cattle in April.

But the month of June was come, decking the earth
with flowers like a bride. On the evening of Tuesday,
the 1 3th day, about seven o'clock, when the sun was
approaching the western hills, the youthful step-brothers,
Thomas Lindsay and James Douglas, who had been
scampering for long hours upon the " braes o' the
Carse," in the glorious weather, were slowly wending
homewards through the Den of Piiroddie, which ends
near Evelick Castle. A long, rugged pass, where the
braes were shaggy with the golden broom and furze,
where bees hummed and birds sang, and a clear
stream, Pitroddie burn, shallow in the summer drought,
trinkled on its way along the bottom.

The village of Pitroddie — or, as the name is generally
pronounced in the district, Pitdroddie, that is Pit-
Druidee, the graves or burying-place of the Druids — is
in the parish of Kilspindie, and is dignified by the
church and manse. The nomenclature of the adjacent
country bears several associations with the Druidical

The Evelick Tragedy. \ 3 1

times. On a rising ground near the village a number of
ancient graves were discovered, about eighty years ago :
some below large cairns, others almost at the surface,
with four stone-slabs forming the sides, top, and bottom
of each "narrow enclosure," and not lying in any regular
direction.

Lone and secluded was Pitroddie Den, far from the
haunts of the madding crowd, yet it had its own tradition-
ary association with Scotland's warrior-days; for a cavern
cleft in the rocks was said to have been the frequent
retreat of Wallace during the season when he dwelt, as a
refugee, at Kilspindie, after his slaughter of the son of
the Governor of Dundee. The old legend was familiar
to the youths, and now they perchance recalled it with a
thrill of patriotic ardour, as they passed beneath the
mouth of the solitary cave. But at that hour of beauty,
when the welkin glowed with splendour, and the air
breathed perfume, and the warblers among the green
spray chanted their vespers, the demon of insensate
jealousy and revenge possessed the soul of Lady
Evelick's son, and wound him up to the commission of
an atrocious deed, which he had already deliberately
planned.

As the striplings wandered through the ravine, talking
and jesting and playing pranks with each other, Douglas
suddenly plucked from his pocket an iron-hafted clasp-
knife, of the kind called /ockteleg, and opening the blade,
struck it at his companion's breast. With a cry of
surprise and pain, Lindsay staggered back, upbraiding
his assailant's perilous folly. Folly ? It was a settled
purpose. Murder was in the boyish villain's heart, and
he sprang forward, and stabbed his victim again and
again with redoubled force. Five times the knile drank

132 Narratives from Scottish History.

blood ; and then the two grappled together, and
struggled and fell, and rolled over each other down into
the burn, where Douglas extricating himself from Lind-
say's relaxing hold rose to his feet, and trampled and
stamped with all his might upon the upturned throat and
face of the prostrate boy. " On horror's head horrors
accumulate ! " Heedless of a weak faltering cry for
pity, the young assassin heaving up a large stone from
the water dashed out his hated rival's brains with it !

The deed was done. Douglas cleansed the smears
from his knife and his guilty hands, and returned the
weapon to his pocket. Scrambling out of the stream,
which was now muddy with the tread of feet, he
ascended the brae, faint and out of breath. He turned
his head, and gazed for a moment at the mangled
corpse, which was streaking the current with dark wind-
ing threads of gore. One glance, and then he ran — his
dress torn, his hair dishevelled, his looks aghast, his eyes
starting from their sockets — he ran home to the Castle,
where his portentous appearance caused general conster-
nation. He was questioned by one after another of the
family as they gathered in wonder and affright around
him. What dreadful thing had befallen ? What meant
those blood-stains on his brow and dress ? What was
become of his step-brother ? They implored him, in his
momentary dumbness, to speak : and he spoke with
gasping effort : Lindsay was dead — murdered — drowned
in the burn of the glen. Search and they would find him
where he had found and left him, cold and stiff ; but he,
the speaker, was innocent, and knew nothing of it — no
more than that he discovered the corpse lying in the
stream, and tried to lift it, but the task was beyond his
strength. And so saying, he threw himself upon a seat,

The Eve lick Tragedy. 133

and lapsed into an imperturbable silence, as if overcome
with emotion.

Leaving him there, the distracted father and some of
his servants rushed to Pitroddie Den, and soon reached
the dead body where it lay — brained, stabbed in sundry
places, the face scarcely recognisable, after the trampling
of iron-shod heels. Where was the murderer? Who
was he ? Footmarks deeply dinted — torn locks of hair
— the ground besprinkled with blood — all the evidences
of the struggle were fresh about the spot ; and as he
scrutinised these, a ghastly suspicion flashed on Sir
Alexander's mind. But he gave it no expression. The
body was lifted and carried to the Castle, where the
grief of ihe household soon burst all bounds. Sir
Alexander anew interrogated his step-son; but that
miserable being deigned no oilier explanation than what
he had alreadv given ; not one word more. Entreaties,
threats, eveiything was lost upon his stolid obduracy.
In the very presence of the dead he maintained his in-
coherent, falsehood ; so he was taken and locked up in
his chamber a prisoner, and men were sent out on the
hopeless errand of tracking the mysterious assassin.

The sun-el's glories faded, and the shadows fell.
How passed the hours of the short summer night over
the culprit's head ? Did slumber visit him, steeping his
perturbed senses in oblivion ? If he slept, was his sleep
" full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing?"
Or did he sit and watch the darkening of the summer
gloaming, and the shining forth of Hesperus, liquidly-
brilliant as a drop of molten gold in the blue serenity
over-arching the dim western hills ? But Hesperus, that
bringeth " all good things," brought no balm, no con-
solation to soothe the anguish that reigned in the tower

134 Narratives from Scott isli History.

of Evelick. Perchance the criminal sate with his
fevered hands pressed on his throbbing brow, hearken-
ing to the inconstant sounds of lamentation for the early
lost — the voice of a bereaved father, vowing stern and
swift retribution — and the wail of a mother, bowed down
with a weight of sorrow and shame to the dust. The
balmy night passed away, and the freshening breeze
wafted the matin song of birds.

-The blushes of the morn appear,

And now she hangs her pearly store
(Robb'd from the eastern shore),
I' th' cowslip's bell, and rose's ear.

Sunlight brought the father, and his wife, and the weep-
ing family to the locked chamber ; and once again the
assassin was solemnly adjured to speak the truth in its
fulness. Yes ! he would confess the whole truth : and
he did confess it, and it was written down. " I have
been over proud and rash all my life," he said, " I was
never yet firmly convinced there was a God or a devil,
a heaven or a hell, till now. To tell the way how I did
the deed my heart doth quake and head rives. As I
was playing and kittling at the head of the brae, I stabbed
him with the only knife which I had " — and here he laid
the fatal weapon before them — " and I tumbled down
the brae with him to the burn ; all the way he was
struggling with me, while I fell upon him in the burn,
and there he uttered one or two pitiful words. The
Lord Omnipotent and all-seeing God learn my heart to
repent."

Could his family screen him from the deserts of his
crime? Impossible. The deed had already blazed
abroad, till all the Carse rang with it. His mother pled

The Evelick Tragedy. 133

not for him. Her husband was inexorable in his resolu-
tion that justice should be vindicated. No time was
lost. The legal authorities at Perth were communi-
cated with ; and on the very next day James Douglas
was placed at the bar of the Sheriff Court of Perth,
upon an indictment setting forth "that he did conceive
ane deadly hatred and evil will against Thomas Lindsay,
son to Sir Alexander Lindsay of Evelick, with a settled
resolution to bereave him of life; he did upon the
thretteen day of this instant month, being Tuesday last,
about seven hours in the afternoon or thereby, as he was
coming along the den of Pitroddie, in company with the
said Thomas Lindsay, fall upon the said Thomas, and
with his knife did give him five several slabs and wounds
in his body, whereof one about the mouth of the
stomach, and thereafter dragged him down the brae of
the den to the burn, and there with his feet did trample
upon the said Thomas lying in the water, and as yet he
not being satisfied with all that cruelty which he did to
the said Thomas, he did with a stone dash him upon the
head, so that immediately the said Thomas died."

But when this charge was read, the young culprit
firmly denied it all, declaring himself innocent !

Unabashedly the prisoner protested his innocence of
the ciime, explaining that he found his step-brother
lying murdered in Pitroddie burn, and while endeavour-
ing to lift him out of the water, slipped a foot, and fell
upon and bruised him. As for his previous confession,
he utterly disowned it, on the ground that when it was
emilted, if he ever emitted it at all, his mind was dis-
ordered with grief and terror. Evidence to convict him
being awanting, the trial was postponed, and he was
retained in custody at Perth. His denial might have

1 36 Narratives from Scottish History.

induced the suspicion that he had been privately
tampered with, probably by his mother ; but it was
afterwards clearly seen that nothing of the kind had
taken place.

Far from wishing to defeat the ends of justice, all the
friends of the accused, without exception, were anxious
that ample justice should be done. The Lindsay con-
nections, indignant at the murder, resolved to pursue
the assassin to the uttermost. He, on the other hand,
fur a number of days, obstinately adhered to his second
story — although his mother and other parties pressed
him to homolgate his original Confession. A cousin of
the murdered youth was the Laird of Balhaivie, and he
came to Perth, and did his best, along with Lady
Evelick, to bring the prisoner to a right frame of rnind :
but it seemed labour lost, and Balhaivie went his way.
This was on the 25th of June. The Laird, however,
hid not been long gone, when a sudden change was
wrought upon James Douglas, while his mother was still
with him. He started from his seat, and with tears and
sobs and loud cries, struck his hands frantically on the
table, and invoked curses on the hour in which he had
been tempted to retract. He now saw the gross error
and sinfulness of his ways, and declared that by the
grace of God he would re-affirm every particular of his
Confession. Then producing his declaration of in-
nocence, he tossed it from him, and called to his mother
to put it in the fire, for it had been dictated by Satanic
agency. The shame of his guilt, he said, was ready to
drive him distracted, and he prayed heaven to keep him
in his sound senses that he might atone for his crime
.and his falsehood. Lady Evelick, on reaching home,

TJie Evelick Tragedy. \ 37

apprised Balhaivie by letter of the change she had
witnessed : —

In a very little after you went to the door, he rose up in such a
passion of grief and sorrow, crying out in such bitterness, rapping
on the table, and cursing the hour it entered into his head to re-
cant, and promised through the Lord's strength, nothing should
persuade him to do it again, but that he should constantly affirm
the truth of his first declaration. He took out the declaration the
devil had belied him to write, with so much sorrow and tears, as
he took his head in his hand, and said he feared to distract, and
prayed that the Lord would help him in his right judgment, that
he might still adhere to truth. This was some consolation to my
poor confounded mind ; but when I consider that deceitful bow the
heart, and his frequent distemper, my spirit fails. ... I de-
sire you and the rest of your worthy friends not to put yourself to
needless charges in the affair, for I, his nearest relation, being not
only convinced justice should be satisfied, but am desirous nothing
may occur to hinder. And as I know, though both he and I
hath creditable friends, they will be ashamed to own me in this.
The good God that best knows my pitiful case bear (me) up under
this dismal lot, and give you and all Christians a heart to pray for
him, and your poor afflicted servant.

RACHEL KIRKWOOD.

Before the Laird received this letter, he was personally
informed of what had transpired by Sir Patrick Threip-
land of Fingask, in company with whom he returned to
Perth, and saw the prisonei, and heard him adhere to
his original confession. " I swear to outward appearance
he seemed very serious, and I pray God Almighty con-
tinue him so," wrote Balhaivie in answer to Lady
Evelick's communication, and thus proceeded —

My cousin, young Evelick, and all his relations, are very sensible
of your ladyship's extraordinary and wonderful good carriage in an
affair so astounding as this has been, and ye renew it in your letter,
wherein ye desire they should not be put to needless trouble and
charges in the affair. The truth is, madam, there is none of us but
10

138 Narratives from ScottisJi History.

are grieved to the bottom of our hearts that we should be obliged
to pursue your son to death ; but we keep evil consciences if we
suffer the murder of so near a relation to go unpunished ; and his
life for the taking away of the other's is the least atonement that
credit and conscience can allow. . . . His dying by the hand
of justice will be the only way to expiate so great a crime, and like-
wise be a means to take away all occasion of grudge, which other-
wise could not but continue in the family.

The course of justice was now clear. The young
assassin was carried to Edinburgh, and committed to the
Tolbooth, the " Heart of Midlothian." He was brought
to trial, before the Court of Justiciary, on Tuesday, the
nth July — the public prosecutor, the King's Advocate,
being the famous Sir George Mackenzie, whom Dryden
styled " the noble wit of Scotland," and the Covenanters
stigmatised as " Bluidy Mackenzie." The prisoner pled
guilty, and was sentenced to be beheaded at the Cross
on Friday, the 4th of August ensuing. Strange to say,
no sooner was he removed from the bar to his cell in the
Tolbooth, than he confessed a new crime, and the
Judges being sent for, his confession was fully taken
down in writing, and subscribed with his own hand, in
presence of the witnesses. He said that while in Edin-
burgh, in the month of January that year (1682), he
"put fire in Henry Graham's writing chamber, out of
revenge, and that he had at first stolen some books
there." It is not stated that he had had any business
connection with Graham, though we may be allowed the
conjecture that he had been sent to this writer's
chamber, or office, for the purpose of qualifying himself
to follow his father's profession of the law, and having
stolen books, had been suspected and dismissed. It
was known, however, that the incendiarism had caused
the destruction of papers belonging to Sir David

'J7ie Eve lick Tragedy. 139

Carnegie of Pittarow and to others of Graham's clients,
besides damaging the property of a neighbour, an
apothecary, named Patrick Cunningham.

The new confession was seized upon, from disreput-
able motives, by the Lord Advocate and the Marquis of
Douglas. Wilful Fire-raising was then accounted Treason
by the Law of Scotland, and Treason inferred the for-
feiture of the guilty party's estate : so that this bad boy's
delinquency would deprive his sisters of his succession.
Fountainhall, in his Decisions, unfolds the shameless
intrigue. The Marquis " had some of James's means in
his hands : " and he and Mackenzie laying their heads
together considered that if tc wilful fire-raising and theft
in a landed man were proven against " the prisoner,
either of the two crimes was " sufficient in law to forfeit
his estate, and take it from his sisters (he having ^2000
sterling and more), by the Acts of Parliament making
these two crimes statutory treason; and that the Marquis
of Queensberry's favour might get the gift of his
forfeiture from his Majesty " — presumably to be halved
or otherwise divided between the two intriguers, whose
palms itched for the blood-money. In pursuance of this
heartless and nefarious scheme, they obtained "from the
Privy Council a reprieve for some days ; which the
youth himself was very desirous of, giving them ground
to imagine he would confess it over again. Whereupon
they gave him a new Indictment of treason upon the
foresaid two grounds.'"'

But " the best laid schemes o' mice and men gang aft
a-gley." The schemers were reckoning without their
host. To their infinite surprise and mortification, when
the prisoner appeared before the Lords of Justiciary,
u on the Qth and loth days of August, he was so taught"

1 40 Narratives from Scottish History.

— that is, he had been so advised by his friends — " that
all the pains the Earl of Perth, Justice General, could
take on him, could not extort a confession from him
judicially in presence of the assize, or that the former
confession he had emitted in the Tolbooth and signed
was his ; for he would neither own nor deny it, but
desired they might prove it." His Advocates — the prin-
cipal of whom was Sir David Thoirs — pled for delay in
the procedure, " because he (the panel) had raised an
exculpation " on the grounds of " his minority, not being
yet nineteen years old," and " his frequent lapses into
melancholy and hypochondriac fits ; which " exculpation
" was to be executed at Perth, etc., and could not be in
so short a time returned " — that is to say, evidence in
support of the defence was then collecting at Perth and
elsewhere.

A hair-splitting wrangle between the lawyers ensued,
into the mazes of which we shall not enter. The King's
Advocate, sticking fast by the Confession as the sheet
anchor of his case, formally renounced all other proof :
upon which Sir David Thoirs, founding on this renuncia-
tion, told the Jury that, in the circumstances, the Con-
fession was of none avail, and they could hear no proof
in regard to it " but what they saw and heard from the
panel's own mouth ; and such a truth was this, that
my Lord Advocate, in his printed ' Criminals,' pleads
passionately for it, that a confession made to the Judges
but not to the assize ought not to be regarded, else it
would confound the office of Judges, by making them
Witnesses, etc." The " Criminals " referred to was Sir
George Mackenzie's work — The Laws and Customs of
Scotland in Matters Criminal, Edinburgh, 1678, in which
he thus lays down the principle : —

The Evelick Tragedy. 141

The Law doth only give credit to judicial confessions, and not to
those that are extra judicial, which makes it stronger with us than
elsewhere, because by a particular Act of Parliament, Ja. 6, Parl.
ii, cap. 90, all probation should be led in presence of the Assize.
. . . That is only called a judicial confession which is emitted
before those who are Judges, and whilst they are sitting in judg-
ment. (See Title xxiv. of Probation by confession. )

Sir George " now finding he had mistaken himself, raged
and swore, and railed at Sir David Thoirs, and studied
to irritate the Criminal Lords against him, as if he had
harangued to reproach the Court." Nor was this all the
" noble wit of Scotland " did. " He threatened the
assizers with an assize of error, if they became like the
seditious ignoramus Juries at London ; and that he
would infallibly prosecute them, and get them severely
punished, as he had done lately with some cleansing
assizers of Somervil of Urats, in 1681 ; and, if there
were any need, he would yet lead the Clerk of the Court
and his servant, John Anderson, and the Lords on the
bench, as witnesses, that they all heard the panel confess
the fact, and saw him subscribe that paper."

In spite of this brow-beating tirade, the Jury, who
were mostly " merchants and writers in Edinburgh,"
took their own way. " They considered with themselves
that though the evidences of his (the panel's) burning
that chamber were great, so that few doubted of its
truth, yet seeing he was to lay down his life on another
account, viz., for his murder (so he was not to escape),
and that all the design here was a covetous inhancing of
his estate, and defrauding his poor sisters thereof ; and
that they, by the Advocate's oversight, had a latitude to
find it not sufficiently proven to them ; " therefore they
did " by this verdict cleanse and assoilzie him from the

142 Narratives from Scottish History.

whole contents of the libel of treason." All honour to
the honest men !

Then came an outburst of Mackenzie's wrath. " The
Advocate stormed and swore he would have them all
imprisoned (yet he never raised a Summons of Error
against them), and fined and declared infamous ; and
that the next assizers he should choose, should be Lin-
lithgow's soldiers, to curb the fanatics. But," continues
Lord Fountainhall, " thir transports of passion were
smiled at, and were judged of no great service to his
Majesty's Government. The Judges ordained the former
sentence of death to be executed upon" the prisoner
"for the murder, which was accordingly done."

It was done on Wednesday, the i6th of August, when
the condemned youth was brought to Edinburgh Cross,
where he died by the axe of the Scottish Maiden, a cele-
brated instrument of execution, which continued in use
in Edinburgh till the year 1710, when the decapitation
of criminals ceased in Scotland.

As has been stated, the fire in Graham's writing
chamber caused damage to the effects of a neighbour,
Patrick Cunningham, an apothecary. He died soon
afterwards, and his widow, Esther Hepburn, obtained
from the incendiary's mother, Lady Evelick, a " ticket,"
or bond, for 200 merks, to cover "the skaith the said
Patrick suffered." Eventually payment was refused, and
the widow brought her claim before the Court of Session.
It was pled in defence that -'the ticket is null, being
granted by a wife vestita vira" To this it was answered
that " the husband must be liable, because he is sub-
scribing as a witness " to his wife's signature, and it is a
short ticket of six or seven lines only, and so he could
not be ignorant of the substance of it." The case was

The Evelick Tragedy. 143

decided on 6th January, 1686, when "the Lords found
his subscription as witness in this case equivalent to a
consent."

The Eveliclc tragedy seems to have found commemor-
ation in the following old ballad, which was first pub-
lished in Robert Jamieson's Popular Ballads and
Songs : —

THE TWA BROTHERS.

" O will ye gae to the school, brother ?

Or will ye gae to the ba ?
Or will ye gae to the wood a-warslin,

To see whilk o's maun fa' ? "

" It's I winna gae to the school, brother ;

Nor will I gae to the ba ;
But I will gae to the wood a-warslin ;

And it is you maun fa'."

They warsled up, they warsled down,

The lee-lang simmer's day ;
[And nane was near to part the strife

That raise at ween them tway,
Till out and Willie's drawn his sword,

And did his brother slay].

" O lift me up upon your back,

Tak me to yon wall fair ;
You'll wash my bluidy wounds o'er and o'er,

And see an they'll bleed nae mair.

"And ye'll tak aff my Hollin sark,

And riv't frae gair to gair ;
Ye'll stap it in my bluidy wounds,

And see an they'll bleed nae mair."

144 Narratives from Scottish History.

He's liftit his brother upon his back,

Ta'en him to yon wall fair ;
He's washed his bluidy wounds o'er and o'er,

But ay they bled mair and mair.

And he's ta'en aff his Hollin sark,

And riven't frae gair to gair ;
He's stappit it in his bluidy wounds,

But ay they bled mair and mair.

" Ye'll lift me up upon your back,

Tak me to Kirkland fair ;
Ye'll mak my greaf baith braid and lang,

And lay my body there.

" Ye'll lay my arrows at my head,

My bent bow at my feet ;
My sword and buckler at my side,

As I was wont to sleep.

" Whan ye gang hame to your father,

He'll speer for his son John —
Say, ye left him into Kirkland fair,

Learning the school alone.

" Whan ye gang hame to my sihter,
She'll speer for her brother John —

Ye'll say, ye left him in to Kirkland fair,
The green grass growin' aboon.

" Whan ye gang hame to my true love,
She'll speer for her lord John —

Ye'll say, ye left him in Kirkland fair,
But hame ye fear he'll never come."

He's gane hame to his father ;

He speered for his son John :
" It's I left him into Kirkland fair,

Learning the school alone."

The Evelick Tragedy. 145

And whan he gaed harae to his sister,

She speered for her brother John :
" It's I left him into Kirkland fair,

The green grass growin' aboon."

And whan he gaed hame to his true love.

She speered for her lord John :
" It's I left him into Kirkland fair,

And hame, I fear, he'll never come."

[" Why bides he in Kirkland fair, Willie,

And winna come hame to me ? "
" His bed is the ground, but his sleep is sound,

And a better hame has he."

" O why is your cheek sac wan, Willie,

Sae red that wont to be ? "
" It's I hae been huntin' the deer and dae,

And that has wearied me."J

" But whaten bluid's that on your sword, Willie ?

Sweet Willie tell to me.
" O, it's the bluid o' my grey hounds ;

They wadna rin for me."

" It's no the bluid o' your hounds, Willie ;

Their bluid was never so re<l ;
But it is the bluid o' my true love,

That ye hae slain indeed."

That fair may wept, that fair may mourn'd,

That fair may mouin'd and pin'd ;
" When every lady looks for her love,

I ne'er need look for mine.

" O whaten a death will ye die, Willie ?

Now, Willie, tell to me."
"Ye'll put me in a bottomless boat,

And I'll gae sail the sea."

146 Narratives from Scottish History.

" Whan will ye come hame again, Willie ?

Now, Willie, tell to me."
" \Vhen the sun and moon dances on the green,

And that will never be." *

Alexander, the surviving son of the Evelick family,
succeeded his father in the lands and baronetcy. He
had two sisters, Elizabeth and Margaret ; and the tradi-
tion of the Carse of Gowrie has asserted that the eldest

* Several versions of this ballad are extant in the published col-
lections. Most of the editors take exception to the import of the
first four lines within brackets, which Mr. Jamieson " inserted to
fill up chasms," as, in their opinion, unwarrantably turning an
accidental homicide into a deliberate murder ; and therefore they
favour a reading to this effect—

" They warsled up, they warsled down,

Till John fell to the ground ;
A dirk fell out of William's pouch,
And gave John a deadly wound,"

which, it is fancied, makes the story applicable to a fatal mischance
that befel in the noble family of Somerville, or in that of Stair.
But Professor Aytoun, in his Ballads of Scotland^ while adopting
the latter reading, considers the conjecture about the Somerville
event as strained. " The circumstances," he says, "are essentially
different ; and, moreover, the wording of the ballad shows that it
belongs to the north country, whereas the Somervilles were a
Lothian family, and the accident referred to happened at the
Drum, a few miles south of Edinburgh." Now, the mention of
" Kirkland " in all the versions of the ballad may reasonably be
held to indicate somewhat of the locality of its story. A small
estate called by that name lies in the parish of St. Martin's, Perth-
shire, which parish marches partly with Kilspindie on the north-
west. The mansion-house of Kirkland was built by the Abbot of
Holyrood, and afterwards became the parish manse. Thus Kirk-
land and Evelick are in near neighbourhood. But curiously
enough, none of the editors of the ballad seem to have heard of the
Evelick tragedy.

The Evelick Tragedy. 147

was the " Lizzie Lindsay " of the old Scottish ballad,
who eloped with Sir Donald Macdonald, the young
Laird of Kingcaussie. The only ground on which the
tradition rested was the identity of name ; but this goes
for nothing, as the matrimonial engagements of both the
Evelick ladies are well known, and neither of them
married a Macdonald. The ballad of " Lizzie Lindsay"
first appeared in Jamieson's Popular Ballads and Songs
(Edin. 1806), from a copy "transmitted to the Editor
by Professor Scott, of Aberdeen, as it was taken down
from the recitation of an old woman," and was then
"very popular in the north-east of Scotland." Other
versions appeared : and we may mention that a copy of
Jamieson's collection, which we purchased in May, 1862,
at the sale of the fine library belonging to the Aliens of
Errol, was found to contain a MS. copy, in a lady's
hand, of a new but imperfect version of "Lizzie
Lindsay " taken, as stated on the paper, from recitation
in 1828. The MS., consisting of a sheet of letter-paper,
was folded and deposited in the second volume, betwixt
pages 148 and 149, at the beginning of " Lizzie Lindsay."
It seems rather a suggestive coincidence that a new
rendering of the ballad should have been obtained
apparently in the Carse of Gowrie, and found in a Carse
library : but, after all, it indicates no more than the pre-
valence in that district of the tradition identifying the
heroine with the Evelick lady. This copy is appended
for the sake of preservation : —

LEEZIE LINDSAY.

" Will you go to the Highlands wi' me, Leezie ?

Will you go to the Highlands wi' me ?
Will you go to the Highlands wi' me, Leezie ?

And you shall have curds and green whey."

148 Narratives from ScottisJi History.

Then tfp spoke Leezie's mother —

A gallant old lady was she —
" If you talk so to my daughter,

High hanged I'll gar ye be."

And then she changed her coaties,

And then she changed them to green —

And then she changed her coaties,
Young Donald to gang wi'.

But the roads grew broad and broad,
And the mountains grew high and high,

Which caused many a tear
To fall from Leezie's eye.

But the roads grew broad and broad,
And the mountains grew high and high,

Till they came to the Glens of Glen Koustie,
And out there came an old Die [a dairy-woman],

" You're welcome here, Sir Donald,
And your fair Ladie."

" Oh ! call me not Sir Donald,
But call me Donald, your son,

And I will call you mother,
Till this long night be done."

These words were spoken in Gaelic,
And Leezie did no them ken —

These words were spoken in Gaelic,
And then plain English began.

" Oh ! make her a supper, mother,
Oh ! make her a supper wi' me —

Oh ! make her a supper, mother,
Of curds and green whey."

The Evelick Tragedy. 149

" You must get up, Leezie Lindsay,

You ....

You must get up, Leezie Lindsay,

For it is far on the day."

And then they went out together,

And a braw new bigging saw she,
And out cam' Lord Macdonald,

And his gay companie.

"You're welcome here, Leezie Lindsay,

The flower of a' your kin ;
And you shall be Lady Macdonald,

Since ye have got Donald, my son."

From recitn. Sfpt. 1828.

Such is the fragment as it came into our hands, and,
rude as it is, it would have delighted the soul of a
Jonathan Oldbuck in the ballad gathering days.

Elizabeth of Evelick gave her hand to an Angus
gentleman, John Ochterlony of ihe Guynd, who, about
1682, wrote an " Account of the Shire of Forfar," for the
use of Sir Robert Sibbald, which is printed in the second
volume of the Spottiswoode Miscellany. Her sister, Mar-
garet, married Arbuthnott of Findowrie, and on his death
entered anew into the bonds of matiimony with Pierson
of Balmadies, to whom she bore seven sons. Her epi-
taph in the family burial place of Balmadies reads thus : —

Mrs. Margaret Lindsay daughter to Sir Alexander Lindsay of
Evelick first married to the Laird of Findourie and thereafter to
James Pietsone of Balmadies to whom she bore seven sons she
died about the 56 year of her age on the 1 1 or 12 of May 1714 and
here interred on the 18 a virtueus and religious lady Me mento
mori.

The first Baronet of Evelick seems to have survived
till shortly after the Revolution of 1688. We cannot
tell how he stood affected towards that change of

1 50 Narratives from Scottish History.

Government. Sir Alexander, the second Baronet, had
a son of his own name, who was third Baronet of
Evelick, and married Amelia Murray, sister of the great
Earl of Mansfield. Of this union came three sons and
two daughters. The sons attained high rank in their
country's military and naval services. The eldest, Sir
David, rose to be a General ; the second, William, a
gallant officer, died in the East Indies ; and John, the
third, was made an Admiral, and found his last resting-
place in Westminster Abbey. One of the sisters became
the wife of Allan Ramsay, son of the poet, and the other
the wife of Alexander Murray, afterwards Lord Hender-
land. General Sir David Lindsay had two sons and two
daughters. The eldest son, William, who was Ambas-
sador to Venice and Governor of Tobago, died before
his father, unmarried, leaving the succession to his
brother, Charles, who attained it on the General's de-
cease. Sir Charles was a distinguished naval officer, and
was present at the battle of St. Vincent ; but unfor-
tunately he was drowned by the swamping of a boat at
Demerara, in 1799. He had never been married. He
was the last Baronet, and the last of the direct male line
of the house of Evelick ; and the succession passed to
the female line in the person of the eldest sister, Char-
lotte Amelia, wife of the Right Hon. Tnomas Steele.
Their son inherited Evelick. He was united to a
daughter of the Duke of Manchester ; and the eldest son
of this marriage, Major-General Sir Thomas M. Steele,
became Laird of Evelick.*

'Lord Lindsay's Lives of the Lindsays, vol. i., pp. 436, 439;
Jervise's Land of the Lindsays, pp. 301, 333 ; 2nd Edition, p. 380;
Chambers' Domestic Annals of Scotland, vol. ii., p. 439; Lord
Fountainhall's Decision of the Lords of Council and Session, vol. i.,
pp. 187, 189, 389-

VI. --The Raid of Clan
Donnachie.

The tartan plaid it is waving wide,
The pibroch's sounding up the glen,

And I will tarry at Auchnacarry,
To see my Donald and a' his men.

— H ogg's Jacobite Relics.

Widow and Saxon maid
Long shall lament our raid,
Think of Clan-Alpine with fear and with woe.

— Lady of the Lake.

ACCORDING to early Highland history, which must be
regarded as largely intermixed with tradition, the tribe of
the Duncansons or Robertsons of Athol became first
known as a separate Clan, under the distinguishing
patronymic of Clann Donnachaidh, after a martial exploit
which they performed in Glenisla, in the year 1391.

As to the ancestry of the sept, there is much dubiety
among genealogists. The Robertsons themselves have
invariably claimed to descend from the Macdonalds,
Lords of the Isles ; and, as has been acutely observed
by a literary clansman, their claim is entitled to fair
weight when we consider that descent from an original

152 Narratives from Scottish History.

and independent stock would seem m >re preferable than
from another clan. At the same time it is certain that
several of the progenitors of the Robertsons appear in
records with the designation De Atholia — of Athol ;
which fact proves an intimate connection with the race
of the old Celtic Earls of Athol ; but this connection
was probably formed by matrimonial ties. The recog-
nised head or founder of the Clan was a portly warrior,
named Duncan the Fat, whose prowess furnished the
theme of many a legendary story. By one set of
authorities he is asserted to have been a son of Angus
Mhor, Lord of the Isles ; and, on the other hand, an
Athol parentage has been assigned to him ; but this
clashing of genealogical lines may be avoided by placing
the descent from Clan Donald some degrees farther
back. From the dim glimpses afforded by ancient
muniments, it is found that the father of Duncan the
Fat was Andrew de Atholia, whose father, again, was
called Gilmur, and held the office of Seneschal of the
Earldom of Athol, about 1200. Andrew, the Seneschal's
son, married the heiress of Athol, she being the daughter
of Ewan, son of Conan, son of Henry, the fourth and
last Celtic Earl of Athol. It is stated that Conan, who
was the second son of Earl Henry, received from his
father, in the reign of King Alexander II. , the lands of
Glenerochy, afterwards denominated Strowan, a render-
ing of the Gaelic term Struthan, signifying streamy, or
the region of streams ; which lands were part of the
inheritance of Conan's grand-daughter.

This account of the Athol connection, imperfect and
hazy though it be, obtains confirmation from another
direction. " It appears from the Chartulary of Inch-
affray," says Mr. Skene, in his Highlanders of Scotland,

The Raid of Clan Donnachie. \ 5 3

" that Ewen, the son of Conan, had married Maria, one
of the two daughters and co-heiresses of Duncan, the
son of Convalt, a powerful baron in Stratherne. Dun-
can's possessions consisted of Tullibardine and Finach
in Stratherne, and of Lethendy in Gowrie ; his eldest
daughter, Muriel, married Malise, the Seneschal of
Stratherne, and their daughter, Ada, carried her mother's
inheritance, consisting of the half of Tullibardine, the
lands of Buchanty, etc., to William de Moravia, prede-
cessors of the Murrays of Tul.ibardine. The other half
of these baronies went to Ewen MacConan, who married
Maria, Duncan's youngest daughter. Now, we find that
in 1284, this Maria granted her half of Tullibardine to
her niece, Ada, and William Moray, her spouse ; and in
1443. we find Robert Duncanson, the undoubted
ancestor of the Robertsons of Strowan. designating him-
self Dominus de Fynach, and granting his lands of
Finach, in Siratherne, consanguineo suo Davidi de
Moravia Domino de Tullibardine. The descent of the
family from Ewen, the son of Conan, the second son of
Henry, Earl of Athol, the daughters of whose eldest son
carried the earldom into Lowland families, is thus put
beyond all doubt, and the Strowan Robertsons thus
appear to be the male heirs of the old earls of Athol."
By this view of the matter the Athol lands were divided
into two equal parts, on the death of Earl Henry ; so
that while the eastern portion went to the female line,
the western or more inaccessible portion was divided
among the male descendants of the old Earls, in accord-
ance with the law of gavelkind, as prevailing in the
Scottish Highlands.

The argument in favour of the conjectured descent from
the Macdonalds, has been thus stated by Mr. Smibert, in
1 i

1 54 Narratives from Scottish History,

his History of the Highland Clans : " There unquestion-
ably exists a doubt about the derivation of the Robert-
sons from the Macdonalds, but the fact of their acquiring
large possessions at so early a period, in Athol, seems to
be decisive of their descent from some great and strong
house among the Western Celts. And what house was
more able to endow its scions than that of Somerled,
whose heads were the kings of the West of Scotland ?
The Somerled or Macdonald power, moreover, extended
into Athol beyond all question ; and indeed it may be
said to have been almost the sole power which could
have so planted there one of its offshoots, apart from the
regal authority."

These are the two sides of the dispute. But " who
shall decide, when doctors disagree ? " Such a question
as that of the origin of the Robertsons we do not pro-
fess to elucidate and set at rest — only we may repeat the
supposition that the Athol geneology does not preclude
the Macdonald descent, which may have taken place at
an earlier period.

The Falstaff of Athol — Donnachadh Reamhair —
Duncan the Fat, succeeded his father in an extensive
heritage, comprehending first, the lands which were
subsequently erected into the barony of Strowan ;
secondly, the barony of Disher and Toyer, a large
portion of the present Breadalbane ; and thirdly, Dall-
magarth, called Adulia, in the old Chartularies, a
property which had once pertained to the Celtic Earls
of Athol. Duncan was a hero in his day — a Baron who
stoutly held his own, and made his power felt and
feared all around him. He was twice married. His
first wife was the daughter of a personage called Callum
Rua, or Malcolm, the Red-haired, who from being also

TJie Raid of Clan Donnachie. 155

called Leamnacli was perhaps related to the house of
Lennox, and who is further believed to have been the
individual styled in the Ragman Roll (1296), Malcolm
de Glendochart. By this marriage, Duncan acquired
various lands in Athol, including a portion of Rannoch :
and we know that the Robertsons were in possession of
the larger island in Loch Rannoch, during the wars of
King Robert Bruce, as it was there they imprisoned the
traitorous Lord of Lorn, after taking him prisoner; but
he speedily escaped out of their hands.

Not more devoted adherents than the Clan Donnachie
had Bruce throughout his protracted struggle for Scottish
independence. They fought at Bannockburn; and their
pibroch, which was played before them when they were
on the march to that glorious field, is still preserved,
among the ancient bagpipe music of Scotland, under the
title of Theachd Clann Donnachaidh — " The Coming of
Clan Donnachie " On the same march, according to
tradition, the famous charm-stone of the Clan, the ClacJi-
na-Bralach — the Stone of the Standard, a talisman of
good fortume, was found adhering to the lower end of
their flagstaff, on its being pulled up from the ground
in which it had been pitched during a night halt. It is
still carefully preserved, and has been thus described by
Mr. David Robertson of Glasgow, in his Brief Account
of the Clan Donnachaidh : — "In form it is a ball of clear
rock chrystal, in appearance like glass, two inches in
diameter, and has been supposed to be a Druidical
beryl. It may, however, quite as probably be one of
those chrystal balls which have from time to time been
unearthed from ancient graves in this country, and
which were said to be the abodes of good or evil spirits,
or amulets against sickness or the sword."

156 Narratives from Scottish History.

A son, Robert de Atholia, was born of Duncan's first
union ; and the mother dying, the widower entered again
into the bonds of wedlock — the bride now being the
co-heiress of Ewan de Insulis, thane of Glentilt, with the
east half of that possession as her portion. There were
three sons of this second marriage. i, Patrick de
Atholia, the head of the Lude family ; 2, Thomas de
Atholia ; and 3, Gibbon, who had no descendants.*
Duncan the Fat died abuut 1355, and was succeeded by
his eldest son, Robert, of whom came the Strowan or
main line of Clan Donnachie. Robert married a
daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Stirling of Glene>k.
This lady brought with her a dowry of part of her fathtr's
lands. She had an only child — a daughter, Jane, who
inherited her mother's portion and was united to one of
the Menzieses of Weem, The sister of Robert's wife
was Catherine Stirling, who wedded Sir Alexander
Lindsay of Glenesk, and was the mother of the famous
Sir David Lindsay, who is known as the first Earl of
Crawford, which dignity he attained in 1398. Robert
de Atholia married a second wife — the co-heiress of
Fordell, by whom he had a son, Duncan.

About the year 1391 the Lindsays of An-us and the
Duncansons of Athol (or Robertsons), related as they
were by the marriages of the two daughters of Sir John
Stirling, fell into dispute touching some of the Glenesk
lands, which the Duncansons maintained were wrongly
withheld from them. In consequence, "there fell a

* It may be noted here that the following entry occurs in Robert-
son's Index of Missing Charters (page 141, No. 48), under the
reign of King Robert III. : " Carta to Thomas Duncanson of
Athol, of Strowane, and ratification of all his lands, with a taillie."
This King's reign extended from 1390 to 1406.

The Raid of Clan Donnac/tie. \ 57

high great discord, "says Winton the Chronicler, between
Sir David Lindsay, lotd of Glenesk, and the Athol men.
A proposal was made at first that all questions should be
discussed and arranged amicably at ;i conference of the
parties, and a day was set for this purpose. But the
meeting never took place owing to a change of mind on
the part of the Uuncansons, who refused to attend.
Lindsay punctually kept the appointment, and seeing no
sign of the Highlanders, sent a spy across the country to
endeavour to find out the cause of their absence and
what they were about. The man took his way, but did
not return, having probably been detected and slain ;
and Sir David unfortunately conceived no suspicion that
his emissary's delay in coming back with intelligence
boded evil. It boded much evil. The Duncansons,
discarding pacific courses, had resolved to seek their
rights with their claymores in their hands.

The temper of the times was such as to encourage the
wildest deeds of violence. The condition of the High-
lands was pre-eminently lawless : clan warred with clan,
avenging the feuds of centuries ; the " Wolf of Bade-
noch " had perpetrated his worst excesses ; and the
whole country was filled with ravage and slaughter — a
barbarous state of things which eventually the Govern-
ment sought to amend by the memorable battle on the
North Inch of Perth. It so happened that a natural son
of the " Wolf," Duncan Stewart by name, who followed
faithfully in his father's blood-dyed footsteps, was now in
Athol among the Robertsons, and it is supposed that he
being made acquainted with their alleged grievances,
suggested the plan of a foray on the lands of the
Lindsays in Angus. Away with conferences ! — worthy
but of cowards and idiots. The Lindsays' domains lay

158 Narratives from Scottish History.

inviting attack : the road was open : sound the gather-
ing, and down upon Glenesk, where abundant booty
would reward the daring of true men. Yet Sir David of
Glenesk, albeit young, only six-and-twenty, was no
ordinary antagonist to provoke. He was brave and
intrepid, trained in military exercises, and the very pink
and soul of chivalry. Two years previously he repaired
to London with a brilliant retinue, in fulfilment of a
knightly challenge, and there fought a battle a I' entrance
with a noble Southron, Lord Welles, on London Bridge,
in presence of Richard II., overthrowing him at the
third course " flatlings down upon the grass." After
spending three months at the gay court of England, Sir
David, as Wyntoun says —

With honour and with honesty,
Returned syne in his land hame,
Great honour eked till his fame :

and in thankfulness for his victory he founded a chantry,
of five priests, or vicars choral, " Within Our Lady Kirk
at Dundee." Such was the redoubted warrior whom the
Duncansons were about to convert into a deadly enemy.
But they seemed not to fear the issue. They called a
muster, and 300 armed men, armed with claymore and
target, ranged themselves in array under the command
of Thomas, Patrick, and Gibbon, the three younger sons
of Duncan the Fat, who were accompanied by the Wolf's
cub as an auxiliary, the greediest of all, perchance, for
plunder and massacre.

No bird of the air carried warning to the Lindsays of
the storm which was ready to burst upon them. The
banner, with its staff surmounted by the talismanic
chrystal ball, was flung to the breezes of Athol, and the
war-cloud rolled across the Highland deserts, and soon

The Raid of Clan DonnacJtie. 159

darkened the borders of Angus. The marauders spread
alarm far and wide, wielding the torch and the brand,
and seizing much spoil without meeting with the slightest
resistance, the suddenness of the attack seemingly
paralysing the energies of the* country. Resistance, how-
ever, was not long delayed. The Sheriff of Angus, Sir
Walter Ogilvie of Auchterhouse, was then at Kettins,
and promptly took measures to repel the inroad. Sir
Walter, who is pourtrayed by Winton, as " that good
knight, stout and manful, bold and wight," summoned
Sir Patrick Gray, and the nearest friends. Sir David
Lindsay, little wotting of the attack, had gone to Dundee,
and was holding state in his noble mansion between the
Nethergate and the Tay, when the tidings were brought
him by a swift-footed messenger. Instantly he took
horse, and hastened to the scene of danger.

Still, the utmost force which the Sheriff could
hurriedly collect to stem the tide of the inroad barely
counted sixty horsemen ; but they were all clad in mail,
and they were the flower of the Lowland chivalry, whose
dashing charge the half-naked savages from the hills
were not expected to resist even though vastly superior
in numbers. The smoke of the devastation wrought by
the forayers served to direct the Sheriff's route, and he
came in sight of them in Glenisla, about eleven miles
north from the Castle of Glasclune, the ruins of which
still crown a height on the banks of the Ericht. The
approach of the horsemen was viewed by the Gael with-
out a tremor ; they gathered together, and with light
hearts made ready to try conclusions in fight. The
cavalry came up, in their glittering panoply, and with
lances in rest — each man, we may fancy, confident and
boastful, as Roland Cheyne on another day —

160 Narratives from ScottisJi History.

My horse shall ride through ranks sae rude,

As through the moorland fern,—
Then ne'er let the gentle Norman blude

Grow cauld for Highland kerne.

But the kerne firmly faced their advancing foes, and at
the critical moment forestalled their attack by a sudden
and impetuous onset. Whilst the war-pipes blew the
loudest notes of battle, the mountaineers cast aside their
plaids, and raising a wild haloo, rushed forward in head-
long charge — dashed aside the levelled spears with their
targets, and hewed at horses and men with the claymore.
The clangour of sword and mail-coat sounded like the
anvils of the Cyclops in full operation. The Lowland
ranks were soon pierced, broken, and thrown into inex-
tricable confusion — wounded steeds careering madly,
and others cumbering the ground. The riders, despite
helm and hauberk, went down one by one under the
force of the ponderous broadsword?. The Athol men
fought with unabated courage — recking not of death —
but bent on the destruction of the over-mastered enemy,
whose leaders were suffering severely. The Sheriff was
slain, with his half-brother, Leighton, Laird of Ulishaven;
and there also fell Young, the Laird of Ochterlony, and
the Lairds of Cairncross, Guthrie, and Foifar. Sir
Patrick Gray was seriously wounded ; so was Sir David
Lindsay, who more narrowly escaped with his life.
Strongly mounted and fully armed, he galloped hither
and thither through the press, dealing death with every
thrust of his lance ; till at length, when he had transfixed
one of the Highlanders, and borne him down to the
ground, to which the long spear-point protruding through
his back pinned him, the wounded savage, in the last
paroxysm of fury, writhed himself up on the lance, and

T/ie Raid of Clan DonnacJiie. 161

swinging his claymore around his head, struck Sir David
a terrible blow on the leg, cutting through the stirrup-
leather, and through the steel-boot to the bone. Having
delivered this stroke, the desperate swordsman sank
slowly down and expired with the lance in his body.
Sir David's limb bled profusely, and he would have been
slain outright had not some friends, espying his perilous
condition, seized his bridle, and forcibly led him out of
the fray. With his retreat, the murderous contest closed
— the few surviving horsemen riding off with all speed,
and the victorions sons of Duncan .were left in possession
of the field of battle.

Old Wyntoun has recounted the danger and escape of
Sir David Lindsay with much power and minuteness of
detail : —

While they were in that press fechtand,
The Lindsay gude was at their hand,
And of thae Scots here and there
Some he slew, some woundit sair.
Sae, on his horse he sitting than
Through the body he strak a man
With his spear down to the erde ;
That man held fast his ain swerd
Untill his nieve, and up-thrawing
He pressed him, notwithstanding
That he was pressed to the erde ;
And with a swake of his swerd,
Through the stirrup-leather and the boot,
Three ply or four above the foot,
He struck the Lindsay to the bane.
That man nae stroke gave but that ane,
For there he died ; yet nevertheless
That gude Lord there wounded was,
And had died there that day
Had not his men had him away,
Against his will out of that press.

1 62 Narratives from Scottish History.

This remarkable incident, illustrative of the ferocious
hardihood of an Athol warrior of olden times, has been
transferred by Sir Walter Scott, in his Lord of the Isles,
to the field of Bannockburn. The passage will be fresh
in every reader's recollection. When the English host
broke into flight, the brave de Argentine having bidden
farewell to his sovereign turned his steed once more
against the Scots.

Again he faced the battle-field, —

Wildly they fly, are slain, or yield.

" Now then," he said, and couch'd his spear,

" My course is run, the goal is near ;

One effort more, one brave career,

Must close this race of mine."
Then in his stirrups rising high,
He shouted loud his battle-cry,
"Saint James for Argentine ! "
And, of the bold pursuers, four
The gallant knight from saddle bore ;
But not unharm'd — a lance's point
Has found his breast-plate's loosen'd joint,

An axe has razed his crest ;
Yet still on Colonsay's fierce lord,
Who press'd the chase with gory sword,

He rode with spear in rest,
And through his bloody tartans bored,
And through his gallant breast.
Nail'd to the earth, the mountaineer
Yet writhed him up against the spear,

And swung his broadsword round !
Stirrup, steel-boot, and cuish gave way,
Beneath that blow's tremendous sway,

The blood gushed from the wound ;
And the grim Lord of Colonsay

Hath turn'd him on the ground,
And laugh'd in death-pang, that his blade

The mortal thrust so well repaid.

The Raid of Clan Donnacliie. 163

Familiar as is this scene to the admirers of Scott, not
many probably were aware that it owed its existence to a
real occurrence in the conflict of Glenisla.

The Robertsons returned in triumph to their own
country, with all their spoils and trophies. The bloody
defeat which they had inflicted upon the Lindsays and
Ogilvies rung through the realm : and the weak ex-
ecutive, under Robert III., fulminated denunciations
against the victors, who were now, for the first time,
designated as an independent Highland Clan — the Clan
Donnachie. The Wolf of Badenoch's son, Duncan
Stewart, was specially marked out for legal vengeance,
as the Raid was attributed to his instigation. Soon after
he quitted Athol, he and a few of his lawless com-
panions were seized and brought before Sir James Craw-
ford, the Justiciary of Scotland, who meted out to them
all the irrevocable doom of death. But the Duncansons,
among their hills and moors, were not so easily to be
reached by the hand of the law ; and therefore the
Lindsays determined on a counter foray, in full strength,
to requite that of Glenesk and Glenisla. A force was
collected and marched into Athol, with every confidence
of breaking the power of the sons of Duncan. But they,
being timeously informed of the expedition, flew to
arms — mustered every man — solicited aid from all their
neighbours — and were joined by several allies, including
a contingent of the Clan Quhale, the sept so soon to
become famous at the Battle of the North Inch. The
Lindsays crossed the confines of Athol, and had pene-
trated as far as Glenbrierachan, when the Duncansons
appeared. The hostile bands rushed to the encounter,
and a hard-contested struggle ensued ; but again the

164 Narratives from Scottish History.

Highland claymore prevailed over the Angus spear, and
the Lindsays were driven off the field with heavy loss.

This new disaster still further incensed the Scottish
Government, and in 1392, the Parliament, using the
only available weapon, passed an Act of forfeiture
agninst the leaders of the Duncansons. But it had no
effect ; and the Lindsays never ventured upon a third
trial of strength with foes who had proved themselves so
formidable.

Such is the story of the Raid of Clan Donnachie, as
we have gathered it from authentic record-', ancient and
modern.*

The Clan did not regain the royal favour until after
the assassination of James I. in the Dominican Monastery
at Perth. Sir Robert Graham, the chief murderer, and
the old Earl of Athol, with several of their associates,
fled to the north, hoping to conceal themselves in the
Athol country. But they were hunted up and down
like wild beasts, and in the end Graham and Athol were
tracked and seized by Robert Ruadh (red-haired) Dun-
canson, Chief of the Clan Donnachie, and John Gorm
(blue-eyed) Stewart of Garth. Graham was taken on
the banks of a small stream flowing near Blair Athol,
hence called " Graham's Burn." An old Gaelic poem
of the period, said to have been composed by Gilchrist
Taylor, and included in The Dean of Lismore's Book,
seems to refer to the arrest of the traitors, whom it

* Colonel James A. Robertson's Earldom of Atholl ; and his
Historical Proofs on the Highlanders, pp. 281, 311 ; Browne's
History of the Highlands and the Highland Clans, vol. iv., p. 460 ;
Lord Lindsay's Lives of the Lindsays, vol. i., p. 93 ; Tytler's
History of Scotland, vol. ii., p. 3 ; Scots Acts, vol. i., p. 17.

The Raid of Clan DonnacJiie. 165

denounces as ''a pack of ciuel hounds," "horrid brutes,"
etc., while it praises " Robert's son of clustering locks,"
and "John Stew.irt of the bounding steeds."

The Chiefs ot Garth and Clan Donnachie were re-
membered for their good services. The Chamberlain
of Athol's Account from 1436 to 1438 (in the Exchequer
Rolls of Scotland, vol. v.), contains a payment to John
Stewart Gorm of £66 T3s. 4d., for his part in the arrest.
It was later until Robert Ruadh got his reward. At
Edinburgh, on i5th August, 1451, James II. granted a
charter to Robert Duncanson of Strowan, creating his
Lmds of Strowan and others into a barony, for the love
and favour borne towards him by the King for the arrest
of Robert Graham, and his zeal and labour about the
capture (Register of the Great Seal of Scotland : 1424-
I5I3)- Part of tne armorial bearings of Clan Donnachie
— a savage man in chains lying beneath the escutcheon
— is conjectured to have been conferred in commemora-
tion of the same service.

It appears to have been from the time of Robert
Rua-ih, who was the great grandson of Duncan the Fat,
and the second Robert known of the line, that the
Duncansons began to be called Robertsons, though the
Clan name has continued without change to this day.

VII .—The Finlarig Christening.

Green Finlarig's shades,

Where chiefs of ancient fame repose —

The Campbells' treasured dead !
And where, amid the solitude
And silence of coeval wood,
Their pristine home may yet be seen,
But sad 'mid summer's bowers of green.
The night owl now usurps the hall,
The ivy creeps along the wall ;
And slowly sinking, stone by stone,
Which fall unheard, unseen, alone,
Its crumbling tower steals away
With imperceptible decay.

David Miller— " The Tay"

FINLARIG is the plain or field of Fingal ; and near
Killin, the King of Morven, the father of Ossian, is
traditionally said to lie buried — his grave being marked
by a large boulder, a stone of remembrance. At
Finlarig is the burial-place of the Campbells of Glen-
urchy, the chiefs of Breadalbane ; and there, too, they
had their first baronial stronghold on the shores of Loch
Tay. After the revolutions of three centuries and more
the sepulchral vault of Finlarig is still the mausoleum
of the family ; but the Castle of Finlarig was deserted
166

The Finlarig Christening. 167

long ago, and is now a hoary ruin, open to every wind
that blows, and the abode of the owl and the bat. At
the head of Loch Tay, on the northern bank, and close
to the village of Killin, stands Finlarig in its desolation,
half-hidden amidst the thick, spreading foliage of old
oaks, chestnuts, walnuts, and ashes, some of which may-
hap saw the castle in its prime. The whole scene, as
viewed from the impending heights, is magnificent — its
chief feature being the glorious expanse of the broad,
far-stretching lake, mirroring the heavens, and bordered
by mountains which tower to the region of clouds and
storms — impressing the mind with the sublime majesty
and the eternal unchangeableness of the mighty forms of
Nature, and awakening associations of the past — the
wild days of the clans, their feuds and conflicts, the joys
of the chase, and the spirit that inspired those memorials
of the olden bards, who disclose a world and a society
so different from our own, yet harmonizing with what
everywhere fills our eye as we gaze abroad on the pano-
rama of Highland loch, strath, hill, and glen.

The lands and castle of Finlarig, when first emerging
into historic notice, appear as the possession of Sir John
Drummond of Stobhall, brother of Annabeila, the Queen
of Robert III. Sir John succeeded his brother, Sir
Malcolm, Earl of Mar, in default of male issue, in 1400 ;
and afterwards the favour of James I. conferred on him
the Bailiery of the Abthanery of Dull, an oflfice of high
consideration. Finlarig remained with the Drummonds
till towards the close of the fifteenth century, when it
passed into the hands of Sir Duncan Campbell of Glen-
urchy, the second chief of the Breadalbane branch of
the Campbells, who succeeded his father, Sir Colin, the
Knight of Rhodes, in 1480. Sir Duncan's aim was the

l68 Narratives from Scottish History.

territorial aggrandisement of his house, in furtherance of
which he applied himself to the acquisition of lands all
round Loch Tay. In 1492 he received a royal charter
to Taymouth, «hich had been held by the Macgregors ;
and on 22nd April, 1503, he obtained another royal
charter to Finlarig, which he had purchased from the
Drummonds. Says the record known as the Black
Book of Taymouth : — " He conquessit the heritable title
of the barony of Finlarig." He fell at Flodden, and was
succeeded by his eldest son, Sir Colin. Probably the
castle of Finlarig had been iiiu» h neglected by its
Drummond lords; but it now became the chief seat of
the Campbells ; and not long after Sir G>lin's accession,
he built a chapel there, and dedicated it to the Blessed
Virgin, as a place of sepulture for himself and his
descendants. As the Black Book of Taymouth has it : —
" He biggit the Chapel of Finlarig to be ane burial for
himself and his posteritie." Accordingly this " burial "
has ever since been devoted to its original purpose.

Sir Colin paid the debt of nature in 1523, and was
laid in Finlarig. He left thiee sons — Duncan, John,
and Colin — all of whom inherited in turn their father's
estate. Colin, the youngest son, came to the noble
heirship in 1550. He was among the first of the
Scottish barons who espoused the doctrines of the
Reformation; and he sat in the Parliament of 1560
which confirmed them by statute. The Taymouth
annali>t describes him as " ane great Justiciar all his
time, through the whilk he restrained the deadly feud
of the Clangregor, ane long space. And besides that, he
caused execute to the death mony notable lymnars.
He beheaded the laird of Macgregor himself at Ken-
more, in presence of the Earl of Athole, the Justice-

The Finlarig Christening. 169

Clerk, and sundry other noblemen." One of the
" notable lymmars," or Highland caterans, whom he
executed to the death, was the famous marauder, Duncan
Laideus. Sir Colin "conquessit the superiority of
M'Nab, his haill lands." He also erected a castle at
Balloch (now Taymouth), part of which is incorporated
with the present stately edifice. Balloch was built, says
tradition, on the spot where its founder first heard the
blackbird sing as he passed down the glen. But in
1583, the "great justiciar " was removed from the busy
scene of his judicial and architectural labours, and in his
stead was installed his son, Duncan, familiarly known in
Highland history as Donacha dhu na enrich — " Black
Duncan of the Cowl " — from the cowl or hood which he
usually wore, and in which he is drawn in his portrait at
Taymouth.

The knight of the cowl left his mark upon his times.
He was a man of great energy, and he turned his mind
to the improvement of the vast estates over which he
was privileged to bear sway for the long period of eight-
and-fony years. Many beneficial changes were effected
by him in Breadalbane. He built castles and bridges,
he planted trees, he raised embankments against floods,
and in many ways ameliorated the condition of the
lands, while also endeavouring to elevate the social con-
dition of the people. He found the castle of Finlarig
verging on decay, and he resolved to re-edify it. As the
Black Book says, he " in his time biggit the Castle of
Finlaiig, pit, and office-houses thereof; repaired the
chapel thereof, and decored the same inwardly with
pavement and painting ; for the bigging and workman-
ship whereof he gave ten thousand pounds." He like-
wise " caused make parks in Balloch, Finlarg, Glenlochy,

170 Narratives from Scottish History.

and Glenurchy, and caused sow acorns and seed of fir
therein, and planted in the same young fir and birch. "
Moreover, he revived and enforced the old Scottish law
whereby tenants and cottars were bound to plant a few
trees about their homesteads — his Baron Court directing
that "every holder of a mrrkland " should plant five
trees ; " every cottar three — either oak, ash, or plane —
to be planted out, when ready to take up, in the most
commodious places of their occupation. The lord's
gardener to furnish the trees for two pennies the piece."
Black Duncan seems to have been the first to introduce
the fallow deer into Scotland. He was also famed for
the breeding of horses ; and his inveterate enemies, the
Macgregors. knew that they could not injure him more
deeply than when they killed forty of his brood mares at
one swoop in Glenurchy, together with a fine horse
which had been sent from London as a present from
Prince Henry, in exchange for a gift of eagles. In
endeavouring to reform the habits of his dependants, his
Baron Court decreed " that no man shall in any public-
house drink more than a chopin of ale with his neigh-
bour's wife, in the absence of her husband, upon the
penalty of ten pounds, and sitting twenty-four hours in
the stocks, toties quoties."

The chief resided alternately at Balloch and Finlarig
Castles. His Household Books contain minute details
of the modes and cost of living of his family. During
the year 1590, the oatmeal (baked and unbaked) con-
sumed was 364 bolls, excluding the "horse-corn;"
malt, 207 bolls ; beeves, 90 ; sheep, 200 ; swine, 20 ;
salmon (mostly from the western rivers), 424 ; herrings,
1500; hard fish, 30 dozen; cheese, 325 stone; butter,
49 stone ; loaves of wheaten bread, 26 dozen ; wheat

7 he Finlang Christening. 171

flour, 3^ bolls; with claret and white wine, and other
luxuries. In these books were also entered the names
of distinguished visitors, as, for example : — At Finlarig,
" beginning the 28 of June, 1590, and spendit till the
5 of July ; the Laird and Lady present, my Lord Both-
well, the Earl Menteith, my Lord Inchaffray, with
sundry other strangers." The Inventories of Plenissing,
dating from 1598, throw much light on the furniture,
etc., of a baronial seat in the heart of the Highlands.
But some of the items are of dark import. There were
in Finlarig, sundry chains and fetters and shackles ; a
headsman's axe ; and four instruments of torture — the
" Glaslawis, charged with four shackles," in which we
may recognise the Caschielawh or Caspicaws, signifying
*' warm hose," used for compelling prisoners to confess :
the leg being placed in an iron frame, and put in a
furnace, and as the iron heated, the questions were
asked. And at Finlarig, too, or at Balloch, was
treasured the curious heirloom, "ane stone of the
quantity of half a hen's egg set in silver, being flat at the
one end and round at the other like a pear, whilk Sir
Colin Campbell, first Laird of Glenurchy, wore when he
fought at the Rhodes against the Turks, he being one of
the Knights of the Rhodes."

The merits of Black Duncan were recognised and
acknowledged by Charles I., who appointed him Sheriff
of Perthshire for life, and created him a Baronet of
Nova Scotia. When the King was mustering soldiers
for the war with France, he wrote him a letter desiring
that he should send forward a contingent of the High-
land archers whose fame had reached the English
court : —

172 Narratives from Scottish History.

To our trusty and well-beloved, the Laird of Glenurchy.

CHARLES R. Trusty and well-beloved, we greet you well.
Whereas we have given warrant unto Alexander M'Naughton,
gentleman of our privy chamber in ordinary, for levying two
hundred bowmen in that our kingdom, for our service in the war
wherein we are engaged with France ; and being informed that the
persons in those high countries are ordinarily good bowmen, we are
hereby well pleased to desire you to use your best means to cause
levy such a number of them for our said servant as possibly you
can, he performing such conditions with them as are usual in the
like cases, which we will take as a special pleasure unto us, whereof
we will not be unmindful when any occasion shall offer whereby we
may express our respect unto you. So we bid you farewell. From
our court at Windsor, the 12 of August, 1627.

It is to be presumed that the best of the Breadalbane
bowmen were selected and marched to the south.

The old Chieftain's days came to an end in June,
1631, and of his two sons, Colin and Robert, the eldest
succeeded him. Sir Colin followed in his father's foot-
steps as a great planter, and builder, and general
improver. The father had supplied the King with a
party of archers ; and the son was requested to despatch
a body of armed Highlanders to Perth on the occasion
of the royal visit to that city in July, 1633. Thus the
Privy Council wrote : —

To our right traist friend the Laird of Glenurchy.

After our very hearty commendations. Whereas the King's
Majesty is most solicit and desirous that the time of his being at
Perth there may be a show and muster made of Highlandmen, in
their country habit and best order, for the better performance
whereof these are to entreat and desire you to single out and con-
vene a number of your friends, followers, and dependers, men
personable for stature, and in their best array and equipage, with
trews, bows, dorlochs, and others their ordinary weapons and
furniture, and to send them to the said burgh of Perth upon

The Finlarig Christening. 173

Monday the eight day of July next, whereby his Majesty may
receive contentment, the country credit, and yourself thank? ; and
so looking for your precise keeping of this diet in manner foresaid,
we commit you to God. From Holyroodhouse, the xxix day of
June, 1633. Your very good friends,

G. KINNOUL, Cancellarius.
MORTON

WlGTOUN, TULLIBARDIN, LAUDERDALE, MELUILL.

We can well conceive how gladly the clans would
gather " all plaided and plumed in their tartan array/'
for the royal fete in the Fair City. Sir Colin seems to
have had a peaceful time, so that he was able to pursue
his rural improvements unchecked, while he also
evinced himself as fond of classical learning, and as a
patron of the fine arts. He engaged painters to deco-
rate the walls of Taymouth with pictures. It is
noticed that he " bestowed and gave to ane German
painter, whom he entertained in his house eight month,"
while at work, " the sum of ane thousand pounds."
Who this foreigner was is not known ; but we find that
Sir Colin employed the pencil of George Jameson, the
celebrated Scottish limner, many of whose works are to
be seen in Taymouth Castle. Writing from Edinburgh,
on 23rd June, 1635, Jameson signifies his willingness to
execute sixteen pictures for Sir Colin, and states his
scale of prices. " I will very willingly serve your wor-
ship," he says, " and my price shall be but the ordinary,
since the measure is just the ordinary. The price whilk
every one pays to me, above the waist, is twenty merks,
I furnishing claith and colours ; but if I furnish ane
double gilt muller [picture frame], then it is twenty
pounds. Thus I deal with all alike ; but I am more
bound to have ane great care of your worship's service,
because of my good payment for my last employment " :

174 Narratives front Scottish History.

and he adds — " If I begin the pictures in July, I will
have the sixteen ready about the last of September."

In the same year, Sir Colin, we are told, " gave unto
George Jameson, painter in Edinbnrgh, for King Robert
and King David Bruces, Kinys of Scotland, and Charles I.,
King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, and his
Majesty's Queen, and for nine more of the Queens of
Scotland, their portraits, whilk are set up in the hall of
Balloch, the sum of twa hundred threescore pounds.
Mair, the said Sir Colin gave to the said George Jame-
son for the knight of Lochow's lady, and the first
Countess of Argyle, and six of the ladies of Glenurchy,
their portraits, whilk are set up in the chalmer of dais of
Balloch, ane hundred fourscore pounds." So much
appreciation of art was certainly uncommon in the High-
lands of Perthshire at the era referred to. Sir Colin
died on 6th September, 1640, aged sixty-three. He had
no children, and the patrimony, therefore, went to
Robert, his brother. The Inventory which was made
up after Sir Colin's demise, specifies " ane pair of little
organs in the Chapel of Finlarg, and ane pair harpsi-
chords in Balloch."

Sir Robert thus became Chief of Breadalbane at the
beginning of the Civil War ; and as he took the
Covenanting side in the struggle, his lands suffered
severe ravage from the clans who supported Montrose.
"In the year of God 1644 and 1645," says the old
record, " the Laird of Glenurchy his whole lands and
estate, betwixt the ford of Lyon and point of Lismore,
were burnt and destroyed by James Graham, sometime
Earl of Montrose, and Alexander M'Donald, son to
Coll M'Donald in Colesne, with their associates. The
tenants' whole cattle were taken away by their enemies ;

TJie Finlarig Christening. 175

and their corns, houses, plenishing, and whole insight
were burnt ; and the said Sir Robert pressing to get the
inhabitants repaired, wairit^S Scots upon the bigging of
every cuple in his lands, and also wairit seed-corns, upon
his own charges, to the most of his inhabitants ; " the
total loss caused by the ravage exceeding the sum of
1,200,009 merks.

But the traditionary story, which we are now to
relate, has no connection with the Civil War ; it con-
cerns a feud which arose from the predatory habits of
the Gael, who

Never thought it wrang to ca' a prey,
Their auld forbears practtt'd it a' their days,
And ne'er the worse lor that did set their claise.

Before Sir Robert became Chieftain, one of his
children was baptised at Finlarig, and a numerous com-
pany of the Campbell race and their friends and allies
assembled to witness the holy rite, and to hold festival
on the auspicious occasion. Doubtless before being
brought to the baptismal font, the child of Breadalbane
secretly underwent certain rude spells of Celtic supersti-
tion. It would be jealously watched lest the Fairies
should steal it away and substitute a changeling. Ex-
perienced crones and wise men of the glens would put
the infant in a basket containing bread and cheese, and
covered with a white linen cloth, and swing it three
times round the fire, exclaiming — " Let the flame con-
sume thee now or never ! " This was considered a pre-
servative against the power of Satan ; but it was not the
less an evident vestige of that passing of children through
the fire to Moloch, which was one of the gross abomina-
tions of ancient heathenism. Then came the Christian

176 Narratives from Scottish History.

ceremonial, and the child was admitted into the bosom
of the visible Church. The feast was spread in the
great hall of the Castle, and the guests sat down round
an ample board. They pledged in flowing bowls the
rooftree of Finlarig, the lord and his lady, and their
youngest born. But while the cup circulated, and
Highland songs were sung, and Seannachies chanted the
roll of Campbell genealogy, and universal joy and
revelry prevailed, — the bagpipes pealing on the green
where the humbler dependants danced merrily, — tidings
reached the Castle which suddenly changed the glad
spirit and aspect of the scene. In ran a breathless
clansman with the news that a band of the Macdonalds
of Keppoch had made a foray on the lands of some of
Sir Robert's friends, and, having driven off a large booty
of cattle and other spoil, were just then crossing
the neighbouring hill of Stroneclachan, fearing no
danger, as they knew how the Campbells were engaged
at Finlarig.

The guests started to their feet and grasped their
weapons, clamouring to be led out against the mar-
auders. Confident in their own strength and prowess,
they sallied forth in swift pursuit. Up the hill they
sped, and soon came in sight of the Macdonalds, who
halted to give battle. The Campbells rushed on with
heedless bravery ; but being overtasked with the chase,
and considerably outnumbered, they were driven back
in confusion, and at last forced to retreat, leaving twenty
cadets of the family dead on the fatal field. When the
fugitives returned to Finlarig with the miserable tale of
their defeat, Sir Robert despatched messengers to bring,
in all the power that could be speedily raised on the
shores of Loch Tay. A strong force being raised, the

TJie Finlarig Christening. 177

Knight placed himself at the head of his clansmen, and
led the way to vengeance. Time had been lost ; but the
Macdonalds were ultimately overtaken on the braes of
Glenurchy, where they were attacked with vigour and
success. After an obstinate conflict, they were put to
flight, their chieftain's brother was slain, and the whole
creach fell into the hands of the victors, who came back
in triumph.

fSuch is the legend of the Finlarig Christening, which
was related to Mr. Pennant, when he visited Loch Tay-
side, and which he deemed worthy of insertion in his
Tour. Speaking of the Castle, he says that " tradition
is loud in report of the hospitality of the place, and
blends it with tales of gallantry; one of festivity, termin-
ating in blood and slaughter." But upon what founda-
tion in fact the story may have arisen we cannot deter-
mine ; although we are disposed to think that it partly
relates, in a confused way, to what is known as the
" Chase of Ranefray," in which Sir Robert, during his
father's lifetime, inflicted a severe defeat on those irre-
concileable foes of his house, the Clan Gregor. Accord-
ing to the Black Book, this fray happened in the year
1610. " Robert Campbell, second son of the Laird, Sir
Duncan, pursuing ane great number of them" — the
Macgregors — " through the country, in end overtook
them in Ranefray, in the Brae of Glenurchy ; where he
slew Duncan Abrok Macgregor, with his son Gregor in
Ardchyllie, Dougall Macgregor M'Coulchier in Glengyle,
with his son Duncan, Charles Macgregor M'Cane in
Bracklie, wha was principals in that band ; and twenty
others of their accomplices slain in the chase." The
same event is recounted by Sir Robert Gordon, in his
History of the Earldom of Sutherland. At Bintoich, he

178 Narratives from Scottisli History.

writes, " Robert Campbell, the Laird of Glenurchy, his
son, accompanied with some of the Clan Cameron,
Clanab, and Clan Ranald, to the number of two hundred
chosen men, fought against three score of the Clan
Gregor ; in which conflict two of the Clan Gregor were
slain, to wit, Duncan Aberigh, one of the chieftains, and
his son Duncan. Seven gentlemen of the Campbells'
side were killed there, though they seemed to have the
victory." As will be noticed, Gordon does not give
nearly so high-coloured an account of the affair as the
Taymouth annalist, who had a personal interest in magni-
fying the exploit. But as we hinted before, the proba-
bility seems tolerably good that the tradition told to the
English traveller was partly a version of the pursuit of
the Macgregors.

The Castle of Finlarig continued as one of the prin-
cipal seats of the Breadalbane chiefs till about the end of
the seventeenth century. At the Revolution, it was
considered of so much importance as a place of strength
that it was held for some time by Government troops.
Afterwards it was gradually abandoned, and allowed to
decay. During the Rebellion of 1745, however, it again
became a Government post, being occupied by the
Argyleshire Militia. But for long it has been a deserted,
crumbling, ivy-clad pile of ruins — the gaunt skeleton
of what it was in the olden days when the Glenurchy
knights held their state within its walls.*

* Black Book of Taymouth ; Innes' Sketches of Early Scotch
History : Logan's Scottish Gael, vol. ii., p. 364; Brand's Popular
Antiquities, vol. ii., p. 77 ; Pennant's Tour in Scotland, vol. iii.,
p. 21 ; Gordon's History of the Eaildom of Stilherland, p. 247 It
is necessary to mention that General Stewart, in his Sketches of the
Highlanders (vol. ii. appendix, p. 22) gives a different version of

The Finlarig Christening. 179

the fight between the Macdonalds and Campbells. He places it in
the days of the first Earl of Breadalbane, and shortly previous to
his being raised to the peerage (as Earl of Caithness) in 1677. The
gathering of the Campbells at Finlarig was " to celebrate the
marriage of a daughter of the family ; " and we find that the Earl
had only one daughter, Mary, who became the wife of Cockburn
of Langton. The Campbells were "driven back with great loss,
principally caused by the arrows of the Lochaber men ; " nineteen
cadets of the Campbells were slain ; Colonel Menzies of Culdares,
who was on the same side, received nine arrow wounds ; and
nothing is said of a subsequent pursuit and defeat of the
Macdonalds. But we have adopted Mr. Pennant's version, as
having at least the apparent priority of date ; for there can be little
doubt, we imagine, that the story was told him, as he has related
it, when he visited the Breadalbane country and Finlarig in 1772 :
though possibly two separate feuds were confounded together in the
telling.

VI 1 1. --The Sanctuary of
St. Bride.

The solitary cell,
Where lone St. Bride's recluses dwell.

— Lord of the Isles.

IN the dawn of Scottish history, Anlaf, one of the
earliest of the Norse chiefs who ruled over the Hebrides,
appears as Rex plurimarum insularum, or " King of
the many Isles; " and the regal title was retained by his
successors of the same race. To them followed the
Celtic line of " Lords of the Isles," who though be-
coming subject to the Scottish crown, generally held
pretensions to independent sway, equal to that of the
Scandinavian Reguli. For about four hundred years,
the Lordship of the Isles, in its relations to the Scottish
Government, seemed to constitute an imperium in
imperio. " Mighty Somerled," the founder of that Lord-
ship— possessing, as the Bards said, Tigh as leth Albin,
a house more than half of Albin — measured his strength
once and again with the power of Scotland — unavailingly,
it is true, and meeting his fate in the last struggle, which
took place, in 1164, on the banks of the Clyde. Various
of his descendants attempted to throw off an allegiance,
which was never so loyally maintained as by the
Hebridean magnate who marched with Bruce to
Bannockburn ; and more than one of them, in the
madness of ambition, sought to seize the Scottish
180

The Sanctuary of St. Bride. 181

throne itself. The personal state and dignity kept up
by the Island- Lords, in the midst of their warlike vassals,
was essentially regal. They were crowned, at their
accession, like sovereigns, and at death they were
entombed in lona, where the ashes of monarchs
reposed. Their chief seat was at Finlagan, in Islay,
one of the largest and certainly the most important and
fertile of the western group of isles. It was also the
place of assembly of their head Court of Judicature,
composed of fourteen members, for hearing and deciding
appeals from all the subordinate tribunals of the regality,
and the presiding judge of which was entitled to the
eleventh part of the sum involved in every case thai
came before him. The coronation ceremony was also
held at Finlagan. " There was a big stone of seven
foot square, in which there was a deep impression made
to receive the feet of M'Donald ; for he was crowned
King of the Isles standing on this stone, and swore that
he would continue his vassals in the possession of their
lands and do exact justice to all his subjects : and then
his father's sword was put into his hand. The Bishop
of Argyle and seven priests anointed him king, in
presence of all the heads of the tribes in the isles and
continent, who were his vassals ; at which time the
orator rehearsed a catalogue of his ancestors." *

* Martin's Account of the Western hies, p. 241. The Leases
granted by the Lords of the Isles to their tacksmen, ran in the
following style :— " I, Donald, chief of the MacDonalds, give here

in my Castle, to a right to , from this day till to-morrow,

and so on for ever." Brevity worthy of being studied by legal con-
veyancers of our day. The only existing Gaelic Charter is by
Donald, Lord of the Isles, dated in 1408, regarding lands in Islay.
It is in the Latin form, but written in the Gaelic language and
character.

1 82 Narratives from Scottish History.

Apparently secure in their insular position, these
western potentates (as already stated) usually held the
Scottish Government in light regard. Sometimes they
were tempted to make common cause with the English
enemy, or to invade the mainland on their own account,
in the wild hope of conquest. But their greatest insur-
rection was that of 1411, led by Donald of the Isles, in
revenge for being refused the Earldom of Ross by the
Regent Albany. This audacious rebel, who swore that
he would make the country a wilderness from Moray to
the Tay, was met at Harlaw by the chivalry of Angus
and Mearns, and routed after a desperately-fought con-
flict : which signal overthrow served to tame the
turbulent spirit of the Islesmen for more than a
generation.

But the old leaven was not purged out by the Lowland
sword at Harlaw. After fifty years, a scheme for the
conquest and partition of Scotland was secretly con-
cocted between the Earl of Ross, then Lord of the
Isles, Donald Balloch of Islay, and John, his son, on
the one part, and Edward III. of England, on the
other ; and a treaty was concluded at London, on i3th
February, 1462, containing certain unprecedented stipu-
lations. The Hebridean conspirators covenanted to
acknowledge the English monarch as their liege lord,
and to assist him with all their power in his wars in
Scotland or Ireland ; while they were to be retained in
his pay till Scotland was conquered — said pay being in
the following annual proportions : In time of peace, the
Earl of Ross should receive 100 merks sterling, and in
time of war, ^£200 sterling; Donald Balloch, £20
sterling in peace, and ^40 sterling in war ; and John,
his son, ;£io sterling in peace, and ^20 sterling in war;

The Sanctuary of St. Bride. 183

which " fees and wages " were to cease on the subjuga-
tion of Scotland. When that event was consummated,
the kingdom was to be partitioned thus : Ross, Donald
Balloch, and the banished Earl of Douglas should have
all the country north of the Forth equally divided
amongst them, " each of them, his heirs and successors,
to hold his part of the said most Christian prince, his
heirs and successors, for evermore, in right of his crown
of England, by homage and fealty to be done there-
fore : " and further, the Earl of Douglas should have all
his own possessions south of the Forth to be held under
the like tenure. The treaty, unique in its character, was
kept a profound secret. But although the Islesmen
were ready for revolt, their royal ally's operations were
very backward. Circumstances withholding him from
an invasion of Scotland, his insular vassals, brooking no
delay, because impatient to ascend their visionary
thrones, broke into rebellion, and made their way to
Inverness, which fell into their hands. There proclama-
tions were issued, in name of the Earl of Ross, as an
independent sovereign, and all subjects in the SherifT-
doms and burghs of Inverness and Nairn were com-
manded to pay him the usual royal taxes. The rising,
however, was altogether premature, and miserably failed.
Ross was summoned as a traitor ; but, for some
unknown reason, Government did not push matters to
extremity with him. He made his peace, and was
allowed to enjoy his honours and lands. Nothing as
yet was known of his English engagement ; and not till
1475 did it come to light. Immediately on the treason
being known, Ross was denounced and forfeited, and
forces were raised and marched against him. But once
more he found means to pacify and compound with

184 Narratives from Scottish History.

the Government. He made a full submission, and in
place of suffering forfeiture and death, as his disloyalty
deserved, he was restored to the Earldom of Ross
and the Lordship of the Isles. Thereupon, as had
been previously arranged, he resigned the Earldom,
which was annexed to the Crown, and in return he was
created a peer of Parliament as Lord of the Isles —
the succession to said title and the estates thereto per-
taining being secured to his two illegitimate sons, Angus
and John.

The resignation of the Earldom of Ross and its
annexation to the Crown, however, deeply offended
several of the western chiefs, and especially Angus, the
eldest son above mentioned, so that by his means the
heart-burnings and divisions on the point resulted in
turmoil and feud. Angus was a man of bold and reck-
less character, almost with a tinge of insanity in his busy
brain. He had great influence over his father, and also
with many of the adherents of their house. After being
declared nearest heir of the Isles, he obtained the hand
of Mary, daughter of Colin, first Earl of Argyle. A
sister of Angus, named Margaret, had been married to
Kenneth Mackenzie, Chief of Kintail, but the union was
unhappy, and she being repudiated by her husband, her
brother seized upon this wrong as a pretext for rising in
arms, and not only attacking Kintail, but also en-
deavouring to win back the lost Earldom by the sword.
Gathering around him all the discontented vassals of
the Isles, he burst, like a destroying flood, upon Ross.
The Mackenzies in array attempted to withstand him,
but were defeated with heavy loss, and the victor roved
at will, endeavouring to reduce the Earldom to obedi-
ence. To check his progress, the Government hastily

The Sanctuary of St. Bride. 185

despatched a military force to the north under the Earls
of Crawford, Huntly, Argyle, and Athol, who succeeded
in driving him back to the sea. He embarked the
residue of his men, and sailed for the Isles. But he was
by no means subdued. Dangers thickened around him
without daunting his courage. Those of the Islesmen
who favoured the interest of his father, took arms to
second the efforts of the king's lieutenants, and so save
themselves from the imputation of favouring the rebel.
With a fleet of galleys, manned by the Macleans, Mac-
neils, Macleods, and other supporters of his family, the
Lord of the Isles himself, accompanied by the Earls of
Argyle and Athol, set sail in quest of his son's arma-
ment. The two squadrons speedily came in sight of
each other in a bay of the island of Mull, near Tober-
mory, and both prepared for fight. Before a blow was
struck, however, Argyle and Athol, anxious to prevent
needless destruction of human lives, brought about an
interview between Angus and his father ; but Angus
would listen to no reason, and the two Earls retiring, a
naval battle ensued, which was fought with great fury
on both sides. Angus was completely victorious, and
his merciless slaughter of the vanquished caused the
scene of strife to be called Ba-na-fola — the Bay of
Blood, whence the conflict is known in Highland history
as the battle of the Bloody Bay. The Lord of the Isles
was now a fugitive, and the power of his son seemed
supreme.

Shortly after the battle, Athol took a daring step.
This great noble, Sir John Stewart, first Earl of
Athol, was of royal lineage by both his parents. The
eldest son of Sir James Stewart, the Black Knight of
Lorn, and Johanna, queen-dowager of James I., he was
13

1 86 Narratives from Scottish History.

raised to the Earldom of Athol in 1457. His first
lady was Margaret Douglas, daughter of Archibald,
Duke of Turenne and Earl of Douglas, called the Fair
Maid of Galloway, who left two daughters ; and after
her death he married the Lady Eleanor Sinclair,
daughter of William, Earl of Orkney and Caithness, by
whom he had eight children. With a view to curb the
triumphant sway of Angus of the Isles, by obtaining a
hostage for his future conduct, Athol passed across
privately to Islay, and seized upon the rebel's only son,
a young boy, named Donald Dhu, or Black Donald,
whom he carried off and committed to the keeping of
the Earl of Argyle, the little captive's maternal grand-
father. Argyle conveyed the child to the castle of
Inchconnell in Lochawe, where he was strictly guarded.
Soon the news of the abduction flew to the ears of
Angus, and transported him with rage. Hearing only
that the boy was kidnapped by Athol, and not know-
ing of his being handed over to Argyle, the frantic
father instantly resolved to pursue the former Earl
into the heart of his own country, whither he had
fled. The gathering note was sounded, and, with all
his forces around him, Angus spread his sails for the
mainland. A steady breeze wafted him to Inver-
lochy, where he anchored his fleet and disembarked
his men, all of whom were athirst for pillage and ven-
geance. Angus pressed forward, with unflagging
speed, at the head of his warriors, choosing the wildest
and most unfrequented routes, that there might be no
premonition of his advance. Soon he entered Athol,
like a bear robbed of her cubs, destroying everything
before him. The inhabitants, who had been utterly
ignorant of his approach, were struck with dismay on

The Sanctuary of St. Bride. 187

beholding the savage Islesmen in their midst, and were
prevented from mustering in sufficient numbers to
defend themselves. It was an easy conquest. The
marauders swept through the district, with the torch
and the brand, amassing immense plunder. The Earl,
powerless to repel the inroad, and not daring to show
face in the field, was obliged to flee for safety, along
with his Countess, the daughter of Orkney — not to a
castled strength, but to a venerable ecclesiastical sanc-
tuary, the Chapel of St. Bride.

St. Bridget or St. Bride was the Patroness of Ireland,
and had received the conventual veil from the hands of
the nephew of St. Patrick. "There were fifteen holy
women in Ireland, who were distinguished by the name
of Bridget," says an old historian ; " the most eminent
of them was Bridget, the daughter of Dubhthaig, who
lived in the province of Leinster, and the character of
this pious woman is highly valued and esteemed among
the religious throughout Europe. It is certain that she
descended lineally from the posterity of Eochaidh Fionn
Fuathnairt, who was a famous prince, and brother to
the renowned Conn, the hero of the hundred battles " *
— a hero claimed as ancestor by the Siol-Cuinn, or race
of Conn, the Macdonalds of the Isles and their branches,
all of whom deny an Irish descent. We are also told
that Bridget "built heiself a cell under a large oak,
thence called Kill-dara, or cell of the oak," and that
' being joined soon after by several of her own sex, they
formed themselves into a religious community, which
branched out into several other nunneries throughout

* Keating's General History of Ireland. Dublin : 1861 (p. 389).

1 88 Narratives from Scottish History.

Ireland." * This holy woman, besides being pre-eminent
in Hibernia, was a popular saint in Scotland, where
chapels and convents were dedicated to her memory in
various places : " one of the Hebrides or western islands
which belong to Scotland, near that of Ila, was called,
from a famous monastery built there in her honour,
Brigidiana : " and it was said that a portion of her relics
had been deposited in the Culdee establishment at
Abernethy, the capital of the Picts. Among the chapels
in Scotland sacred to St. Bride was one in the province
of Athol, which was held in great reverence, being
famous for miracles which had been wrought at its
altar on the diseased in mind and body. Such was the
sanctity of this ancient fane that many of the scared
inhabitants of the district sought refuge within its
walls, bringing with them whatever of their effects were
most valuable and capable of being conveyed. Thither
likewise came Athol and his Countess, trusting that
there they would enjoy the privilege of a sanctuary
which even Angus of the Isles and his ruthless bands
would respect.

Laden with booty — unslockened in vengeance, burn-
ing and slaughtering as they passed, leaving nought but
a desolated waste behind them, while the sky was thick
with the smoke of their ravage — the Islesmen approached
and surrounded the hallowed retreat. Angus knew
where his foe was sheltered. But did the sacred charac-
ter of the place, in that age of superstition, not make
him pause ? He summoned Athol to surrender him-
self and the captive boy, and was informed in answer
that the boy was in Argyle, and that the Earl would not

* Rev. Alban Butler's Lives of the Saints, February 1st.

The Sanctuary of St. Bride. 189

venture one foot beyond the charmed circle/ Angus
had flattered himself that his son was within his reach,
and now the disappointment was maddening. In one
of those paroxysms of rage which were thought to indi-
cate his insanity, he vowed upon his drawn claymore
that no power on earth should stop his way or baulk his
purpose. The few poor nuns went out to him, with
tears in their eyes, and holy emblems in their hands, and
besought him not to incur the sin of sacrilege. But idle
were their remonstrances, their prayers, and their threats
of heavenly wrath and retribution. He gave the word,
and his remorseless clansmen, greedy for plunder, broke
into the sanctuary, polluted it with blood, despoiled it
of everything they coveted, and haled forth Athol and
his Countess to learn their fate from the implacable
Chief. It was a marvel that their lives were spared.

His fell work accomplished, Angus turned his face
homewards, dragging his noble prisoners along with
him. On reaching Inverlochy, where the galleys still
rode at anchor, the marauders hastened on board with
all their booty, and with the captive Earl and Countess,
whose lives seemed to hang by the slenderest of threads.
Sail was made — the destination being Islay. Sky and
sea, and piping breeze filling the sheets, promised a
pleasant voyage. And till Islay was descried above
the blue waters, a pleasant voyage it was. But then,
as the galleys ploughed the sunny deep, the breeze
freshened into a gale, and the billows rose tumbling in
foam. Murky clouds gathered fast : the wind increased
to a hurricane, and there was fierce tempest over the
sea. Broad flashes of lightning broke through the
stormy gloom, and the roll of thunder answered the roar
of dashing waves. The mariners, though in affright,

1 90 Narratives from Scottish History.

strove tneir best to run their vessels to land. But
the angry elements contended furiously against them.
Galley after galley went down : every one that was laden
with the plunder was swallowed up in the fathomless
abyss, and it was at extreme peril that Angus and his
prisoners, and a scattered remnant of his followers,
escaped to shore. They all felt that the powers of
Nature had been moved by a high hand to avenge the
Raid of Athol and the desecration of the Sanctuary of
St. Bride. Thus, the tempest and the wreck, as terrible
manifestations of divine indignation, struck the cateran's
hardened soul with profound contrition. As he stood
trembling and aghast on the strand, which the impetuous
surges were strewing with dead bodies, broken spars, and
torn cordage, and as he heard the cries of drowning
wretches whose strength failed them as they neared the
beach, a frenzy of terror and despair seized upon him.
All the crimes of a life of violence, rapine, and blood-
shed rushed back upon his conscience. Should he not
make such atonement as was in his power ? He
released his prisoners unconditionally — without making
any stipulation as to the restoration of his son — and
facilitated their return to Athole.

They were soon followed in the same track by Angus
and his chief adherents, all clad in sackcloth, with bare
heads and unshod feet. In this penitential guise, they
appeared at the Chapel of St. Bride, to the amazement
of the nuns, who never could have dreamt of such a
visitation. There the Islesmen, professing the deepest
sorrow for their misdeeds, prostrated themselves before
the altar, and performed such humiliating penance as
could alone effect their reconciliation with the Church,
and (as was believed) avert the farther judgments of

The Sanctuary of St. Bride. 191

heaven. When everything was done that ecclesiastical
discipline required, the repentant Chief and his com-
pany left the Sanctuary, and sought his native Isles.
It was thought that a salutary change had been
wrought upon him — that the fierce passions which
had ever and anon convulsed his mind, like gusts of
madness, were subdued by the beneficent influences of
the penance at St. Bride's. But the idea was fallacious.
A state of peace was incompatible with his restless
nature. He soon resumed his former career of turbu-
lence and war. Once more he marched at the head of
his clansmen to renew the former feud with the
Mackenzies of Kintail. He entered the town of Inver-
ness ; but there his fate awaited him. An Irish minstrel
or harper, to whom he had done some wrong, or who
was perhaps bribed by the enemy, watched an oppor-
tunity, and stabbed him to the heart with a dagger.
The assassination was committed some time before the
year 1490. It was a tit end to a lawless life.

The fortunes of Donald Dhu, son of Angus, were
overcast from his boyhood. He was kept in Inchcon-
nell for more than ten years, during which period a
great revolution took place in the Isles. Another
rebellion arose, and was suppressed, and then the lord-
ship was annexed to the crown, and John, the last
lord, and grandfather of Donald, died in the Monastery
of Paisley. In 1501, the young captive escaped from
Inchconnell, and was gladly received by his kinsman,
Macleod of Lewis. Shortly thereafter an insurrection
took place in Donald's favour as heir of the Isles; but
his legitimacy was denied by Government, and his
forces being overthrown, he was taken prisoner, and
committed to the Castle of Edinburgh, where he

192 Narratives from Scottish History.

remained for the long and weary space of nearly forty
years ! At last, in 1543, the caged bird found means to
regain liberty. He eluded the vigilance of his keepers,
and fled to the Isles, where he was welcomed by crowds
of adherents. The flag of revolt was again unfurled,
and application was made to Henry VIII., who being
acknowledged by the rebels as their liege lord, sent
Donald one thousand crowns, and promised him two
thousand yearly. But Black Donald's stars were still
adverse. He was driven from the Isles, and died in
Ireland.*

* Gregory's history of the Western Highlands and Isles oj
Scotland ; Browne's Histoyy of the Highlands ; Tytler's History of
Scotland; Douglas' Peerage of Scotland ; Anderson's Scottish
Nation ; Notes ro Lord of the Isles.

IX. — A Jacobite Cateran.

Before me stand

This rebel chieftain and his band.

— Lady of the Lake.

WELL-KNOWN is the romantic story of the " Seven
Men of Glenmorriston," who protected Prince Charles
Edward during part of his perilous wanderings in the
Highlands, after Culloden, and whose fidelity to the
royal fugitive was uncorrupted by the reward of
.£30,000 sterling offered for his arrest. No better proof
could be adduced of the honour, good faith, and trust-
worthiness of the Highlanders, and of their inviolable
attachment to the Prince, than was displayed by that
little band of outlaws; and no better refutation could
be given to the malicious slander that the clans, as a
rule, embarked in the Rebellion for the sake of enrich-
ing themselves with booty. The Seven Men had all
been engaged on the Jacobite side in the insurrection,
and when the cause was lost on Culloden Moor, they
made their retreat to remote fastnesses, where, banding
together by a solemn compact, they vowed to defend
themselves to the last against Cumberland's soldiery,
and never while they lived to lay down their arms and
submit. Originally seven in number, they were joined
by another comrade while the Prince was under their
guardianship. They obtained their subsistence by

193

194 Narratives from Scottish History.

plundering the enemy, and they occasionally fought and
routed detached military parties. Their oath of fealty
to the Prince ran thus — "that their backs should be to
God, and their faces to the devil, that all the curses the
Scriptures did pronounce might come upon them and all
their posterity, if they did not stand firm to the Prince
in the greatest dangers, and if they should discover to
any person, man, woman, or child, that the Prince was
in their keeping, till once his person should be out of
danger;" and this oath they so scrupulously kept that
a whole year elapsed after the Young Chevalier had
escaped from Scotland, before any of them ever revealed
their secret. It has been asserted that one of them was
subsequently hanged for stealing a cow ; but this is a
mistake. No one of that band came to such an end.
They stood out in arms until the Act of Indemnity, in
1747, delivered them from all danger, and enabled them
to return to their homes. But a man, not of their
number, who was sentenced to death at Inveraray, in
1754, for robbery, endeavoured to excite compassion
amongst the Jacobite gentry, and induce them to make
intercession for his life, by falsely representing that he
was one of the Glenmorriston men ; until on finding that
no mercy would be extended to him, he confessed the
imposture and its motive.

Besides the Glenmorriston men, the defeat of the in-
surrection and the savage cruelties of Cumberland drove
many of the common rebels to become caterans or
cattle-lifters and robbers in the north. With some of
them, this was but a recurrence to their old habits : they
had been marauders before they put the white cockade
in their bonnets, and when they pulled it out they re-
sumed their former trade. It was remakable, however,

A Jacobite Cater an. 195

that these rebel-banditti, in carrying on their depreda-
tions, generally discriminated between friends and foes —
beween Hanoverians and Jacobites — and for a consider-
able time they systematically directed onfalls upon the
dwellings and property of the parish ministers, who were
all staunch supporters of the Government. Such outrages
grew so frequent and so flagrant that the victims made
formal petition to the General Assembly regarding their
sufferings.

Complaints were made of the hardships endured in
consequence of the non-payment of stipends. At the
meeting of the Commission of Assembly on i3th March,
1746, a petition by Mr. Thomas Montford, minister of
Kilmalie, craved relief in his distressed circumstances,
occasioned by the want of his stipend owing u by those
in rebellion " : and he was probably the writer of a letter,
dated 26th June following, which appeared in the news-
papers, viz : —

As the most of this parish is burnt to ashes, and all the cattle
belonging to the rebels carried off by his Majesty's forces, there is
no such thing as money or pennyworth to be got in this desolate
place. I beg, therefore, you will advise me what steps I shall take
to recover my stipends. My family is now much increased by the
wives and infants of those in rebellion in my parish crowding for a
mouthful of bread to keep them from starving ; which no good
Christian can refuse, notwithstanding the villainy of their husbands
and fathers to deprive us of our religion, liberty, and bread.

At the meeting of Commision on i2th November, 1746,
Mr. Archibald Bannatyne, minister of Dores, in the
Piesbytery of Inverness, gave in a representation to the
following effect: —

That as his house stands in a place 'twixt the Highlands and the
Low country, on the King's highway to the east end of Loch

196 Narratives from Scottish History.

Ness, no minister in Scotland, so far as he could learn, suffered
the half of what he had from the rebels, or lay so much under the
feet of M 'Donalds, Camerons, Stewarts, and M 'Leans, as they
passed and re-passed 'twixt their own country and their head-quarters
of Inverness. Any, who is acquainted with that country, must
know that travellers come through a long wilderness to the west of
his house, where there is no provision for man or horse for twelve
miles, and, after some houses on the road were destroyed, there
was no accommodation for eighteen miles. As they passed in
hundreds, fifties, and dozens, for eight weeks' time, they quartered
man and horse upon him, banished him from his house, and after
all his corns and provisions were consumed, they obliged his wife,
under pain of military execution, to find them provisions of all
kinds on her credit, which involved him considerably in new debt.
Besides this, they burnt a house of his, with all the furniture and
utensils in it ; made a bonfire of his whole year's fuel on the 3Oth
October, as a mock celebration of his Majesty's birthday, etc.

Letters were also read from ministers in the north,
setting forth their distress by parties of robbers coming
down upon their houses in the night ; and a Committee
was appointed to communicate with the Earl of Albe-
marle, Commander-in-Chief in Scotland in succession to
the Duke of Cumberland. Again, at the Commission
meeting- in March, 1747, complaints were made by the
Presbyteries of Aberdeen and Aberbrothock concerning
depredations committed on the houses of ministers by
" outstanding rebels ; " and the Commission resolved to
lay the matter before the Lord Justice-Clerk and Major-
General Huske.

One of the most inveterate plunderers of the parochial
clergy was a fugitive rebel, a Lowlander born, who had
been a private soldier in the British army, from which he
deserted and joined the ranks of Prince Charles. His
name was James Davidson, and he was a native of
Brechin. Surviving Culloden, he took to the hills and to

A Jacobite Cateran. 197

his own hand as a robber ; and, still swayed by Jacobite
principle, he confined his attacks solely to the enemies
of the cause, and was peculiarly active in pillaging
manses in Forfarshire and Aberdeenshire. He was
apprehended in 1748, and, being carried to Aberdeen,
was tried and executed. Others of his class pursued
their evil courses for longer periods, until checked by
the hangman.

But none of the rebel-caterans attained the fame of
Serjeant Mhor, whose daring elevated him to the char-
acter of a hero in the eyes of the humbler orders, whom
he invariably refrained from injuring. John Dhu
Cameron was his name ; but, from the stalwart height
and proportions of his figure, he was called Mhor — big
or great. Being of an adventurous spirit in his youth,
and fancying a military career — while being Jacobitically
inclined, he disliked the service of the House of Hanover
— he crossed to France, and entered the French army,
in which, by his steady conduct and soldierly qualities,
he rose to the rank of Serjeant. On the outbreak of the
Rebellion of 1745, he forsook the French colours, and,
returning to Scotland, became an ardent adherent of
Prince Charles, whom he followed throughout the war.
Culloden dashed his hopes ; and, being thrown upon his
own resources, he became a cateran, and collected
around him a band of desperadoes, of whom he was
chosen chief or captain. The troubled state of the
country affordej full scope to the energies of the gang,
and when danger threatened they found safe refuge
among the recesses of the mountains bordering the three
counties of Perth, Inverness, and Argyle, now lurking in
the wilds of Badenoch and Drumuachter, now on the
rocky banks of Loch Ericht, and now in the wastes be-

1 98 Narratives from Scottisk History,

yond Loch Lydoch, or in the wilderness of the Moor of
Rannoch.

Serjeant Mhor, as he was popularly designated, carried
his Jacobitism into practice as a cattle-lifter, by plunder-
ing exclusively among the Whig paity ; and he gained
the good wishes of the poorer people by sparing and
befriending them on all occasions. He also adopted
the system of black-mail, and regularly uplifted this pro-
tection-money from many persons on the Lowland
borders, making good any losses of cattle they sustained
by other marauders. In this way, by degrees, he
rendered himself a kind of power in the Highlands, and
his name was both respected and dreaded far and near.
Fruitless were all attempts to seize him either by force or
guile. Whether alone or at the head of his band, he
baffled every design of his enemies. And be it said that
rude and lawless as were the lives of this man and his
associates, he possessed qualities worthy of a much
higher sphere of exertion, if his destiny had been other-
wise cast. He was brave and trusty : a soldier's sense
of honour ever distinguished him : and he doubtless
justified to his own mind his marauding vocation by re-
garding it as the inevitable necessity or outcome of a
state of warfare with the usurping Government. His
proudest boast was that neither he nor any one of his
followers had ever shed a drop of blood in their nefarious
exploits ; but unhappily, as bad luck would have it, this
boast was at length denied him. One day, while the
gang were driving a creach, or spoil of cattle, in Braemar,
they were overtaken and attacked, and in the scuffle one
of the assailants, named John Bruce, in Inneredrie, was
killed. As soon as the Serjeant saw this man fall, deep

A Jacobite Cater an. 199

remorse overcame him, and, commanding the spoil to be
relinquished, he and his band made off empty-handed.

At another time his generosity, and his native pride
and dignity, operated to the disadvantage of his purse.
The story goes that a military officer, travelling to Fort-
William with a large sum of money for the pay of that
garrison, lost his route on the hills of Lochabcr. He was
journeying alone, without any escort — perhaps some
emergency having prevented the sending of a party for
his protection. At all events — whatever was the reason
of his being unattended — he lost his way, as we have
said, and, while in great perplexity about it, accidentally
encountered a solitary Highlander, a fine specimen of
the Gael — dark-visaged, of gigantic height and herculean
build, with a little of the soldier in his bearing. They
fell in talk : the mountaineer was friendly ; and the
traveller stated his difficulty, mentioned the money he
was carrying, and expressed apprehension lest by
wandering in unfrequented paths he might chance to
meet with Serjeant Mhor. The other admitted that
there was ground for such a fear, but readily undertook
to put him on the right road, and guide him past all
danger. The officer was very thankful, and so they went
on together.

Conversing freely as they jogged along for miles, their
discourse naturally turned on the redoubtable Serjeant
Mhor, his misdeeds and hairbreadth escapes, and the
officer did not scruple to stigmatise him as a robber and
a murderer — epithets which he repeated so often and so
bitterly that the Highlander's blood was roused. "Stop,
stop ! " he exclaimed at last, making a full pause. "You
are unjust to Serjeant Mhor. If he plunders, he plunders
only the cattle of the Whigs and Sassenachs, who are his

2OO Narratives from Scottish History.

natural enemies ; but neither he nor his cearnachs ever
spilt innocent blood except once, and that was in Brae-
mar, when a man was cut down in a melee. "The
moment he fell," continued the speaker, " I ordered the
creach to be abandoned, and drew off without another
blow being struck." The officer stared in utter amaze-
ment, hardly crediting his own ears. " You ? " he cried.
" What had you to do with the affair ? " " Everything,"
replied the cateran. " My name is John Dhu Cameron :
I am the Serjeant Mhor ! There lies your road to In-
verlochy. You cannot now mistake it. You and your
money are safe. Tell your Governor to send in future a
more wary messenger for his gold. Tell him also that,
although an outlaw, and forced to live as I do, I am a
soldier as well as himself and would despise taking his
gold from a defenceless man who confided in me."
Thus they parted. The messenger proceeded towards
his destination, astonished at the peril he had run and
the honourable conduct of the outlaw, whom, we may be
very sure, he never again spoke of with disrespect.
This adventure has been attributed by Sir Walter Scott
to another Highland bandit called John Gun, the head
of a band of gipsies, who flourished at the same time
with the Serjeant, and it is introduced in the Lady of the
Lake — where Roderick Dhu conducts Fitz-James —

" O'er stock and stone, through watch and ward,
Till past Clan Alpine's outmost guard,
As far as Coilantogle's ford."

But the version of this tale which we have followed is
that given by General Stewart of Garth, who received his
information about the Serjeant from a gentleman who was
contemporary with him, and, therefore, could scarcely
have been mistaken.

A Jacobite Cateran. 201

Nor was this adventure with the officer the only in-
stance in which Serjeant Mhor's generosity of spirit made
him forego opportunity of plunder. In those times,
there was a public-house on the south side of the Upper
High Street, Perth, directly opposite to Paul Street, and
it was tenanted by a man who conjoined the vocations
of cattle-dealer, flesher, and vendor of ale and mountain
dew. The Michaelmas Tryst at Crieff was then the
greatest cattle-market between Inverness and Stirling,
and usually lasted a week. At one of these trysts the
Perth Boniface attended, and made a considerable pur-
chase ; but presently hearing that Serjeant Mhor and his
gang were in the market, he became alarmed for the
safety of his beasts on the way home. Having a slight
acquaintance with the celebrated cateran, the anxious
dealer sought him out, proposed an " adjournment," and
had a caulker or two with him. In the end, the pair
grew so " gracious," that the Serjeant sent a few of his
band to escort his boon companion several miles on the
road to Perth till past all chance of danger. The story
goes that subsequently the publican had always more
meat for sale than had been the case formerly, while,
strange to say, a hide was never seen about his premises,
so that the suspicion went that he was in the habit of
helping the Serjeant to dispose of some of his "lifted"
cattle.

Seven years did the Serjeant infest the north, defying
the power of the law ; but the evil day came in the end.
He often, when by himself, passed nights during bad
weather in the steading of a friend on the farm of
Dunan, in Rannoch. This rugged district had been the
retreat for some time of a brother clansman and rebel,
Donach Dhu Cameron, who, escaping from Culloden,
14

2O2 Narratives from Scottish History.

sought concealment in a rocky recess, or " sheltering
bed," on the north side of Glencomrie, called from that
circumstance Leaba Dhonnacha Dhuibh-a-mhonaidh —
("The Bed of Black Duncan of the Mountain").
There, while he lay unseen, he frequently viewed soldiers
in pursuit of him passing to and fro at the foot of the
precipice, twenty yards below. "This man," it is said,
"was remarkable for agility and swiftness of foot.
While Prince Charles was besieging Stirling Castle,
Donnacha Dubh was sent upon some important business
to Fort-William. Duncan is said to have performed the
journey on foot, 88 miles, in one day, — a task which
few pedestrians of this generation, or probably of his
own, could achieve." Serjeant Mhor, however, was
always welcome to resort to the house of his friend,
whom he deemed incapable of treachery, but who ulti-
mately, it appears, proved false, and betrayed him under
the temptation of a bribe. This happened in the year
1753, and shortly after a small detachment of military
from Badenoch, under Lieutenant (afterwards Sir Hector)
Munro, had been stationed in Rannoch at about a
couple of miles' distance from Dunan farm. Thither, to
his well-tried entertainer's dwelling, one stormy evening,
came Serjeant Mhor alone, and was received with the
old hospitality. After partaking of a hearty supper, and
tossing off a few stiff caulkers, he went to pass the night
in the accustomed barn among plenty of straw. But
when slumber had sealed his eyelids, some one stealthily
stole in upon him, and removed his claymore, dirk, and
pistols. Soon he was rudely awakened in the grasp of
the sidier roy (the red soldiers). But Cameron was
habituated to danger. His life was in his hand, and
though unarmed he struggled to the utmost. He gained

A Jacobite Cateran. 203

his feet, and, exerting his great strength, threw off his
assailants, and dashed one man with such violence
against the wall of the barn, that he fell down insensible,
and, in fact, was long an invalid from the effects of the
shock. The bold outlaw rushed to the door, hoping to
escape in the darkness ; but there he was met by the re-
mainder of the party, who, crowding upon him, over-
powered his desperate resistance, threw him down upon
the floor, and made him prisoner.

The Serjeant being thus secured, was taken under a
strong guard to Perth, where he was lodged in the Tol-
booth. Another cateran named Angus Dhu Cameron,
evidently a member of the band, was also apprehended
and brought to Perth, accused of having been art and
part guilty with the Serjeant in an act of sheep-stealing
in Athol when on their way down the country from
Braemar. At the Autumn Circuit Court of Justiciary
held in Perth, the two Camerons were placed at the bar.
Two indictments were read : the first of which charged
Serjeant Mhor with the murder of John Bruce in
Inneredrie, Braemar, and with sundry thefts, and like-
wise with being habit and repute a common and
notorious thief : and the second charged him and
Angus Dhu with having stolen two wedders at Blair-
Athol. One jury heard both cases. On the first
indictment the Serjeant was found " guilty, art and part,
of the murder libelled ; of stealing three horses and a
filly belonging to John Blair, in Ballachraggan ; and of
being habit and repute a common thief in the country."
There was some dubiety about the other case, and the
diet being deserted against Angus Dhu, he was re-com-
mitted on certain new charges of robbery. Sentence
was then passed on Serjeant Mhor to the effect that he

2O4 Narratives from Scottish History.

should lie in Perth Prison till the 23rd of November,
and be fed on bread and water (in terras of the Act 25
George II.), and on that day be hanged at the common
place of execution near to the burgh, and then his body
to be hung in chains.

At this period — and for long previously, and until the
year 1773— death sentences in the Scottish Court of
Justiciary were recited over by the grim and repulsive
official called the Doomster^ who was generally the
common hangman. The custom was that when the
sentence was recorded, the presiding Judge rang a hand-
bell, which was the signal for the emergence of the
Doomster into the open Court. The Clerk then read
out the sentence, which was repeated by the Doomster,
who, at the close of his recitation, laid his right hand on
the head of the condemned criminal, adding the words
— " And this I pronounce for doom ! " When a
sentence was not capital, it was repeated by one of the
Macers of Court. We all remember the vivid picture of
the Doomster in the discharge of his duty at the trial of
Effie Deans in The Heart of Midlothian.

Serjeant Mhor being condemned, the Perth Doomster
or hangman appeared in the Court to perform his dread
office, and was approaching to place his hand, according
to immemorial custom, on the bare head of the prisoner,
when the latter, in a sudden paroxysm of indignation,
ejaculated — " Keep the caitiff off ! Let him not touch
me ! " — at the same time threatening to strike the odious
wretch if he ventured within reach. The formidable
figure and furious looks and gestures of the outlaw
terrified the Doomster. He retired at once out of
harm's way, without completing the usual formula.
This circumstance was related to General Stewart of

A Jacobite Cateran. 205

Garth by a gentleman who had been present at the trial.
But such a scene bad already happened twice in the
Circuit Court at Inverness, in the spring of the same
year, 1753. A young lad, John M'Connachy or
M 'Donald, condemned for sheep-stealing, flew into a
rage on the approach of the Doomster, ordered him
to keep off, and struck him a heavy blow on the face ;
but the attendant constables seized the culprit and held
him fast until the hated official had done his duty.
Another case at the same Circuit, on a subsequent day,
was that of M'Connachy's uncle, John Breck Kennedy,
who was condemned for cattle-lifting. Like his nephew,
he attacked the Doomster, and also struck and kicked
so violently about him at all and sundry that he had to
be pinioned and handcuffed till the legal ceremony was
gone through. It is thus seen that Serjeant Mhor's
outrageous conduct at the bar was but following recent
precedents.

The Serjeant underwent the extreme penalty of the
law on the day fixed, the 23rd November, 1753 — the
place of execution being on the Burgh-Muir of Perth,
where his body was left hanging in chains. As to his
betrayer, he " was heartily despised " by all his neigh-
bours, says General Stewart ; " and having lost all his
property, by various misfortunes, he left the country in
extreme poverty, although he rented from Government
a farm on advantageous terms, on the forfeited estate of
Strowan. The favour shewn him by the Government
gave a degree of confirmation to the suspicions raised
against him ; and the firm belief of the people to this
day is, that his misfortunes were a just judgment upon
him for his breach of trust towards a person who had,
without suspicion, reposed confidence in him."

206 Narratives from Scottish History.

By a curious coincidence, John Gun, the Gipsy-
cateran, to whom has been attributed (erroneously, as
we believe) the adventure with the Fort-William officer,
was brought to trial at the Autumn Circuit Court of
Aberdeen, in 1753, and was sentenced to be hanged on
the 23rd of November ensuing, the very day appointed
for the execution of Serjeant Mhor. But John's star
was luckier than that which ruled the Serjeant's lot.
When judgment was passed upon him, John broke out
in great wrath, declaring that he had been unjustly dealt
with, and that he would never forgive the Justice of
Peace who had committed him, or the Lord-Advocate
who had conducted the prosecution. As if indeed there
were some grounds for his angry complaint, he was
reprieved, and ultimately sent across the sea to the
Virginia plantations.*

* Charabers's History of the Rebellion of 1745-6 ; Bruce's Black
Kalendar of Aberdeen (2nd edition), pp. 38, 39, 45, 85, 89 ;
Morten's Annals of the Assembly : 1739-1752, pp. 90, 94, 95, 105,
389 ; General Stewart's Sketches of the Highlanders of Scotland,
vol. i., p. 64, vol. ii., appendix, p. xx. ; Notes to Lady of the
Lake — Canto Fifth ; Penny's Traditions of Perth, p. 100 ; Scots
Magazine for 1753 ; Chambers's Book of Scotland, p. 318.

X. — The Wearing of the Tartan

The home-spun garb that, bright with various dyes,
Was wont to please the simple native's eyes ;

By the long lapse of years habitual grown,
Endur'd the rigid laws' forbidding frown.

— Mrs. Grant of Laggan, " The Highlanders."

THE other day, whilst examining a dusty mass of old
law-papers, we came upon a small bundle containing
illustrations of the operation of the Act of Parliament,
passed in August, 1746, for "disarming the Highlands
in Scotland." As is well known, this statute embraced
clauses enacting that, from and after the ist August,
1747, no man or boy, other than "officers and soldiers
in His Majesty's forces," should, on any pretence what-
soever, wear or put on the Highland garb, or any part
thereof, under penalties of six months' imprisonment for
the first offence, and seven years' transportation for the
second : the oath of one witness being declared sufficient
to justify conviction. During a considerable period the
measure was rigorously enforced all over the North —
the dress-prohibition especially — "an ignorant wanton-
ness of power," as Dr. Johnson called it — causing sore
trouble and hardship to the denizens of the hills and
glens, who resorted to various modes of evasion of the
Act, but generally in vain ; while the duty of watching

207

208 Narratives from Scottish History.

for and reporting infractions of the law was performed
chiefly by the soldiery who garrisoned the country.
" Nothing could depress the Highlanders more," says
Mrs. Grant of Laggan, " than the imagined policy of
depriving them of a national habit which they greatly
preferred to any other, and found better adapted to the
purposes of hunting, climbing the mountains, fishing,
and, above all, sleeping out in the heaths, which they
often did, wrapped in the plaid, the colours of which
were so well suited to the woods and dusky verdure of
their high grounds that they could come very near their
game unperceived."

But before the legislative enactment on the subject
came into operation, a ridiculous outbreak of Hano-
verian antipathy to the tartan happened in Edinburgh.
In the year 1746, so fatal to the hopes of Prince Charles
Edward, the anniversary of his birth was on Saturday,
the 2oth December ; and in the course of that week
rumours reached the ears of the Edinburgh authorities,
civil and military, that certain Jacobites, mostly of the
fair sex, intended to hold a ball in honour of the occa-
sion, within an Inn, at the Shore of Leith, kept by a
Widow Norris, who was herself shrewdly suspected of
Jacobitism ; while it was also reported that the ladies
were to appear in tartan gowns and white ribbons ! As
the sight of a red rag infuriates a bull, so the proposed
" wearing of the tartan " was thought to indicate a
treasonable meeting ; and, in this alarm, the Lord
Justice Clerk and Lord Albemarle, Commander-in-Chief
of the Forces in Scotland, adopted measures to frustrate
the affair. Bishop Robert Forbes records the result in
his large edition of Jacobite papers denominated by him-
self, The Lyon in Mourning, which has been printed

The Wearing of the 1 artan. 209

under the auspices of the Scottish History Society.
The Justice Clerk drew up and issued the following
Orders :—

WHEREAS certain information has been given from time to time
that several persons, particularly of the female sex, disaffected to
His Majesty's person and government, have formed a design, as an
insult upon the Government, to solemnise the twentieth day of
December as the birthday of the Young Pretender, and for that end
are resolved to be dressed in tartan gowns and white ribbands, and
to have a ball or dancing in the house of Widow Morison (or the
like name) in Leith ; therefore these are ordering all officers, civil
and military, to be upon their duty to prevent any such riotous
meetings, or any such insult upon the Government ; and for that
effect to search all suspected houses in the Canongate, Leith, and
the other suburbs of Edinburgh, and to seize the persons of such as
they shall find dressed in tartan gowns and white ribbands, and the
persons of all such as they shall find attending such meetings or
dancings, and to make them prisoners, etc.

Given at Edinburgh, this twentieth day of
December, in the year [1746], etc.

AND. FLETCHER.

Lord Albemarle's Order was couched in similar terms ;
and, at a rather late hour that night, parties of soldiers
were sent out on this service, their officers being fur-
nished with lists of suspected houses. " There was a
strict search made," says the Bishop, "throughout the
Canongate, Leith, and the other suburbs of Edinburgh,"
that ladies found attired as above might be straightway
arrested and brought before the Justice Clerk and Albe-
marle, "that so they might be questioned about that
rebellious dress. Sentries were posted at my Lady
Bruce's gate at seven o'clock at night, but no search was
made in her house till about ten o'clock, when Lieutenant
John Morgan, of Colonel Lees's regiment of foot, entered

2 1 o Narratives from Scottisli History.

the house and behaved with very great discretion,
making a joke of the farce, as indeed it did not deserve
to be considered in any other light. He went into some
few rooms to see if he could find any tartan-ladies ; " bur,
finding none, he said " he believed never was an officer
sent upon any such duty before, as to enquire into the
particular dress of ladies, and to hinder them to take a
trip of dancing."

It is next recorded that " Mrs. Jean Rollo, an old
maiden lady in the Canongate, and sister of the present
Lord Rollo [Robert, fourth Baron, who was " out " in
the '15, but not in the '45], was the only prisoner
according to order, and was brought before the Justice
Clerk and Lord Albemarle, and after some very silly
trifling questions being asked about her tartan gown, she
was dismissed."

The Bishop goes on to tell that " a party of mounted
dragoons continued patrolling through some of the
streets of Leith till near 12 o'clock at night, and sentries
were posted at the Watergate, Foot of Leith Wynd, and
head of the Walk of Leith, and other avenues leading to
Edinburgh, so that none could pass or repass without
being strictly examined and giving an account of them-
selves. At the Watergate, some gentlemen returning
from their walk they had been taking into the country
were made prisoners, and detained to next day in the
Canongate prison, because they made a joke of the
thing, and refused to answer some of the silly questions.
Among these gentlemen was Mr. David Kennedy, brother
to the present Sir Thomas Kennedy of Cullean, and
cousin to the Justice Clerk. One of Lord Albemarle's
servants, returning from watering and airing the horses,
refused to answer a sentinel that called to him, upon

The Wearing of the Tartan. 211

which the sentinel stept forwards and thrust his screwed
bayonet into the belly of Albemarle's best horse, so that
the fine managed caperer died. This became the subject
of much laughter, that the General should be the only
person to suffer in a search for the rebellious tartan."

After all, we cannot be surprised to learn that this
silly bustle and infringement of the liberty of the subject
was the outcome of a practical joke upon the easily-
excited authorities. "This farce," writes the Bishop,
" was said to be altogether owing to the folly and mad-
ness of General Husk, who was at that time in Edin-
burgh. There never was such a thing devised as a ball
or a dancing. But some people knowing the folly and
idleness of the Government folks, had spread such a
report to try what they would do ; and indeed the farce
afforded diversion enough." *

It seems that an open show of Jacobitical dress was
shown in Manchester at this period, without the govern-
ing powers being so foolish as to take notice of it, after
the Edinburgh style. According to Hibbert Ware's
History of the Foundations in Manchester (as quoted in
Notes and Queries, 1897): — "Independently of the
Jacobite holidays, the Tories, on every common occa-
sion, boldly appeared in the streets decked in the
Prince's livery, with plaid waistcoats ; the ladies imitating
them by wearing gowns of the same Scottish hue and
texture, while every pincushion showed the initials of
P.C." It was shrewdly suspected that the articles of
dress, etc., were imported from Scotland. A writer
says : — "As to Jacobitism, we have it industriously pro-
pagated in various shapes ; even in our dress, our manu-

* The Lyon in Mourning, vol. ii., pp. no — 112.

212 Narratives from Scottish History.

facture, and what not. Many a pretty girl has been
taught to read ' God bless Prince Charles ' upon her pin-
cushion, before she can say her Catechism. To me it is
very obvious that plaid waistcoats, gowns, etc., are chiefly
worn at this time by way of encouragement of the loyal
city of Glasgow, from which place it is well known that
this commodity principally comes. . . . Several
looms have been lately employed to furnish garters,
watch-strings, etc., with this elegant motto, ' God pre-
serve P.C-, and down with the Rump.'"

But we must leave the pretty girls with their pin-
cushions, and attend to what was doing in Scotland.

Still more odious than the enactment prohibitory of
Highland dress was the " Indemnity Oath," designed for
the Highlanders, which ran as follows : —

I, A. B., do swear, and as I shall answer to God at the great
day of judgment, I have not, nor shall have, in my possession any
gun, sword, pistol, or arm whatever, and never use tartan, plaid,
or any part of the Highland garb ; and if I do so may I be cursed
in my undertakings, family, and property — may I never see my
wife and children, father, mother, or relations — may I be killed
in battle as a coward, and lie without Christian burial in a strange
land, far from the grave of my forefathers and kindred ; may all
this come across me if I break my oath ! *

By their Disarming Acts, the Governments of the
first two Georges, imitating the Philistines, strove to re-
duce the Highlanders to the condition of the Israelites
in the time of King Saul, when " It came to pass, in the
day of battle there was neither sword nor spear found in
the hand of any of the people.'' As to the Indemnity
Oath — which must have been the composition of some-

Adam's What is my Tartan ? p. 23.

The Wearing of the Tartan. 213

body well acquainted with the Highland character and
habits of thought and feeling — the refusal to take it was
held to be a proof of disaffection, incurring punishment.

The original papers mentioned at the outset of this
sketch, as containing illustrations of the working of the
clause proscribing the wearing of the tartan, relate to a
large district of the Perthshire Highlands, which was
under the jurisdiction of a Sheriff-Substitute, who kept
his head courts at Killin. Before the abolition of the
Heritable Jurisdictions it was at Killin that the Baron
Courts of the Regality of Breadalbane were held, and
the small Highland village, being thus a seat of justice,
possessed a jail like any ordinary burgh. The small
bundle of documents is labelled on the wrapper, " Pro-
secutions for wearing the Highland dress before the
Sheriff Court at Killin,'' and the following summary of
the cases will show how the Act was administered there
in the years 1749 and 1750: —

T. On the 24th February, 1749, an information was
presented to Duncan Campbell, Esq., Sheriff-Substitute
at Killin, by Duncan M'Combich, sergeant in Captain
Campbell of Inveraw's Company of Lord John Murray's
Regiment of Foot, setting forth that, " upon Wednesday
last, the 22nd inst, he, being in Invercagerney, happened
to see Duncan Carmichael, servant to Duncan M'Far-
lane, tenant there, wearing a philabeg or little kilt —
wearing it in the common and usual way of such garb,
contrary to the late Act of Parliament concerning the
Highland cloathes ; he thought it his duty to challenge
the same, and did on the evening of said day apprehend
the person of the said Duncan Carmichael, to be pre-
sented to the next nearest judge as directed by the said
Act." The prisoner was presented, at Auchmore on the

214 Narratives from Scottisk History.

24th, before Sheriff Campbell, who, having read and
considered the information, ordained the said Duncan
Carmichael to be incarcerated in the Prison of Killin
forthwith until liberated in due course of law."

2. Another complaint cropped up on nth August
that year, when Robert M'Farlane, in Inverchagarny of
Strathfillan, parish of Killin^ who was informed against
by John Jacklane, sergeant of Lord Ancrum's Regiment,
"for using and wearing a tartan vest of plaiden some-
what long," found bail to appear at a future diet of
Court. But there is no farther record of him, the pro-
bability being that the complaint was found untenable
and therefore withdrawn.

3. On the 29th September following, Duncan Camp-
bell, indweller in Killin, was informed on by John Isack,
corporal in General Poultney's Regiment, commanding
the detachment of that regiment in Killin, for wearing
parts of the dress prohibited (which are not specified),
and committed to prison.

4. On the 5th October, the above John Jacklane,
while commanding a patrolling party of his regiment,
apprehended four Highlandmen, namely, Duncan Camp-
bell, in Glenfalloch, who wore tartan trews; John, his
son, who wore a little kilt; George M'Farlane and Peter
Macallum, indwellers in Glenfalloch, both wearing short
coats of one colour. The prisoners being brought
before the Sheriff, he dismissed the two latter as not
having infringed the statute, but the others he committed
to Killin Jail. Three weeks afterwards — on the 26th of
the month — the Campbells presented a petition for
liberation, stating that Duncan " being a widower, his
private business at home is suffering greatly, for instance
several of his goats are stolen or gone astray, and he had

The Wearing of the Tartan. 215

none at home qualified to make the proper search for
them." As no interlocutor appears on this petition, the
presumption is that its prayer was disregarded, and that
the father and son were only enlarged " in due course of
law."

5. The last case in the parcel is perhaps the most
curious of the lot. The Laird of Appin kept a black
servant named Oronoca — perhaps a descendant, but at
least, a namesake, of Oroonoko, the hero of one of Mrs.
Behn's novels, and one of Southern's plays. The black
servant was evidently a negro slave, for the ownership of
slaves on British soil was still recognised at law, and
runaway negroes were advertised for in the newspapers,
like lost poodles or strayed cattle, and rewards offered
for their seizure and restoration. Nay, more, " a black
boy" who had "been in Britain nearly three years/' and
belonged to a gentleman in Edinburgh, was offered for
sale at the price of ^40 in the Edinburgh Courant of
1 8th April, 1768. The Laird of Appin, out of some
freak or other, dressed his negro in the tartan livery of
his clan, which fact was soon detected by the lynx-eyed
military informers. The record bears that on 25th July,
1750, " Oronoco, servant to Dugald Stewart of Appin,
Esq., was apprehended by Henry Paton, commanding
officer of the forces stationed in the Rannoch district,
for wearing the Highland garb, or being dressed in
tartan livery," and was forthwith committed to prison,
wherein doubtless he lay his allotted time.

Let us now select a few examples of the oppressive
working of the Act in other districts of the country.

In the month of January, 1749, a public notice was
issued by the Sheriff of Edinburgh to the effect that all
persons found within that county, wearing the Highland

216 Narratives from Scottish History.

dress, would be prosecuted under the late Act. This
notice was not allowed to remain inoperative. On the
1 2th August that year a Highlander was arrested in one
of the streets of Edinburgh, and carried prisoner to the
Castle, " for wearing a philabeg ; " and on i8th Septem-
ber following, another Celt, named Stewart, was taken
into custody in Edinburgh, " for the same crime ; " but
both were admitted to bail.

About the end of March, same year, six men were
carried in from Cromar to Aberdeen, " for wearing the
Highland habit." They were kept six or seven weeks in
prison there, and then admitted to bail. On the 26th
October, other six men were brought from Braemar to
Aberdeen, for the same " crime." Five of them were
admitted to bail ; but the sixth was kept in jail — the
" Mids-o'-Mar," as Aberdeen prison was locally termed.*

Only the day after Oronoco's apprehension, the rigid
enforcement of the law caused a Highlandman's violent
death near the Northern border of Aberdeenshire. On
the 26th July, 1750, a corporal, who happened to be
quartered with a small military detachment at the
Cabrach, seeing William Gow of Auchencrach passing
on the road, proceeded to arrest him on the plea that
he was wearing some part of " the garb of old Gaul," not
specified in the account before us. Gow resisted, using
his fists freely, when another soldier rushed to the spot
to support his corporal, but got knocked down as soon
as he interfered in the scuffle. Shaking himself loose of
the corporal's grips, Gow ran off at full speed, and
might have escaped scot free had not the two soldiers,
rendered furious by the blows they had received, fired

* Scots Magazine, vol. xi. : 1749, pp. 52, 251, 459, 508.

The Wearing of the Tartan. 2 1 7

their muskets after him. The shots took effect. He
was mortally wounded, and died next day. For all that
appears the soldiers were never called to a strict reckon-
ing for their deadly work.*

About the same time, a young Banffshire lad, " who
had on part of the Highland garb, being pursued by a
soldier, took shelter in a house," whereupon " the soldier
shot him dead through the door." It was also reported
"from Inverness, that, on the iyth of August, a soldier
there challenged a half-pay officer of one of the High-
land regiments for wearing his regimentals and a broad-
sword, and endeavoured to disarm him ; but that the
gentleman keeping hold of the hilt, and struggling with
and pushing off the soldier, the crampet dropt off un-
perceived, and by that means the soldier received a
wound, of which he soon died. The gentleman," adds
the report, " has absconded.'' f

At the Inverness Circuit Court of Justiciary, held on
5th September, " Alexander, Mary, and Anne Mac-
donalds, and Anne Kennedy, were indicted of deforcing
the military when apprehending a person for wearing the
Highland habit. The Advocate-depute deserted the
diet against them pro loco et tenipore, and they were dis-
missed ; but he immediately gave in another informa-
tion, and obtained a warrant for incarcerating them of
new. The pannels craved to be admitted to bail; which
the Lords granted." \

On Christmas Day, Donald Grant, of the parish of
Glengairn, was imprisoned at Aberdeen for wearing the

* Scots Magazine, vol. xii. : 1750, p. 348.
\ Ibid., p. 395. +lbid., p. 451.

218 Narratives from Scottish History.

Highland habit.* Again, on 3oth August, 1751, another
Highlander, named Donald Macdonald, underwent
durance vile in Aberdeen for the like offence. f

Years passed without the law being allowed to fall into
desuetude. The following Argyleshire document tells
its own tale : —

John M'Leran of the Parish of Ardchattan, aged about twenty
years, was brought before me by Lieutenant John Campbell, being
apprehended for wearing a Phelibeg, and convicted of the same by
his own confession : Therefore in terms of the Act of Parliament, I
delivered him over to the said Lieutenant John Campbell to serve
His Majesty as a soldier in America, after reading to him the 2nd
and 6th sections of the Act against mutiny and desertion. Certi-
fied at Armady, 26th September, 1758.

Co: CAMPBELL, J.P.

Invry, 27th September, 1758. Appoints Peter Campbell, officer,
to put the within John M'Leran in gaol, therein to remain till
liberated in due course of law.

JOHN RICHARDSON. J

In the summer of 1759, however, the trial of a Killin
youth led to such a fiasco as brought about some relaxa-
tion of the harsh and tyrannical administration of the Act.

Donald Macalpin, son of John Macalpin, in Clifton
Village, parish of Killin, was seized for wearing a kilt,
which was stitched up the middle so as to have " some-
thing of the form of the trowsers worn by Dutch
skippers," such as may be seen in pictures of Dirk
Hatteraick. It is not too much to say that properly the
stitching of the kilt was merely a subterfuge to evade the
letter of the law, for we are told by General Stewart of

* Scots Magazine, vol. xii : 1750, p. 596.

•\ Ibid., vol. xiii : 1751, p. 405.

J Celtic Magazine, vol. viii., p. 565.

The Wearing of t lie Tartan. 219

Gaith that "many were the little devices" which the
Highlanders " adopted to retain their ancient garb with-
out incurring the penalties of the Act, devices which
were calculated rather to excite a smile than to rouse the
vengeance of persecution. Instead of the prohibited
tartan kilt some wore pieces of a blue gown, or red thin
cloth, or coarse camblet wrapped round the waist, and
hanging down to the knees like fealdag? or unplaited
philabeg. Donald, on being called in question, stoutly
protested that the alleged kilt was really and truly a pair
of short trews, without any tartan about them, as indeed
there was not ; but his defence was held irrelevant, he
was brought to the bar, and conviction followed as a
matter of course. On the back of the conviction, how-
ever, the Sheriff committed a great blunder. He granted
no warrant for the prisoner's committal to jail to undergo
the statutory six months' imprisonment, but assumed a
discretionary power altogether ultroneous. Wars were
then raging abroad — Highland regiments, " plaided and
plumed in their tartan array," were winning glory on
foreign battlefields, and as Donald looked " a proper
young man " to carry a musket in the service of his king
and country, the Sheriff-Substitute adjudged him to be a
soldier, and handed him over to a recruiting officer
stationed in the town of Perth. There was no authority
whatever in the Act to transform Donald into a soldier,
but the officer, who evidently knew this, succeeded, by
the use of desperate threats, in concussing his prisoner
to make a seemingly voluntary enlistment and attestation.
Still the affair did not end there. Although " listed,
tested, sworn, and a'," poor Donald was not left to him-
self in this dire extremity. Some friends from Loch Tay
side turned up at the critical moment, and demanded on

22O Narratives from Scottish History.

his part to be furnished with an extract of the legal pro-
ceedings against him. This being peremptorily refused,
application was made to the Court of Session on the 2oth
July, praying for the intervention of their Lordships in
the matter. Nor was the petition in vain. It was
ordered to be served on both the recruiting officer and
the Sheriff-Substitute for answers thereto, and Donald
was liberated ad interim on bail. An extrajudicial com-
promise was the result — "The officer paying the com-
plaiher's expenses, amounting to nineteen guineas, and
discharging him from being a soldier, and he passing
from his action against the officer, the Sheriff-Substitute,
and all others concerned." The contemporary reporter
of the case adds the remark that "the ready ear given by
our Supreme Courts to the just complaints of the meanest
subject should teach recruiting officers and inferior
Magistrates not to trifle with the laws." *

Donald went back triumphant to the hills of Bread-
albane, and his case led to a salutary change in the
high-handed procedure of " inferior Magistrates '' under
the Act. But the odious measure itself was not wiped
from the statute book till the year 1782, when the
Marquis of Graham (afterwards third Duke of Montrose),
then sitting in the House of Commons as one of the
members for Richmond in Yorkshire, brought in a Bill
for its repeal, which passed nem. con.

Now, for the first time, after five and thirty coercive
years, were the sons of the mountain and the glen able
to array themselves with

The bonny blue bonnet,
The kilt an' the feather an' a',

free from all dread of incurring legal penalties.
* Scots Magazine, vol. xxi., 1759, p. 440.

XL --The Affray at the Red
Parliament.

Most gracious and omnipotent,
And everlasting Parliament,

— You have done more

Than all the Parliaments before ;
You have quite done the work.

—John Cleveland.

A plague o' both the houses.

— Romeo and Juliet.

THERE was a Black Parliament of Scone, in August,
1320, at which Lord Soulis and several Scottish Knights
were convicted of a treasonable conspiracy against King
Robert Bruce, on the confession of the Countess of
Strathearn, who was privy to the plot ; and four of the
belted traitors were sent to the scaffold. There was also
a Black Parliament of Stirling, in August, 1571, when a
nocturnal incursion of Kirkcaldy of Grange's men from
Edinburgh Castle resulted in the slaughter of the
Regent Lennox, after he had been taken prisoner.
And, for variation of colour, there was a Red Parliament
ot Perth, in July, 1606, which, in its connection with a
fierce street affray, is here chosen as the subject of a
brief historical sketch.

Perth ceased to hold place as the capital of Scotland
in 1482, after which date no meetings of the Estates
were held there till the beginning of the seventeenth

221

222 Narratives from Scottish History.

century. In 1604, the presence of the plague in Edin-
burgh caused the Parliament, which had met in that
city, to be adjourned to Perth, where it resumed its
sitting in July, under the Earl of Montrose, as Royal
Commissioner; and "the town mustered fourteen
hundred men in arms and gude equipage " (says the
local Chronide\ as a guard of honour during the
Session. At this Parliament, Commissioners were
appointed to negotiate about a Treaty of Union with
England, which, however, was not carried through till
another hundred years had run their chequered course.

King James, finding himself firmly seated on the
throne of Elizabeth, was desirous of promoting the
union of the Kingdoms ; but the object which lay
nearest his heart was ecclesiastical uniformity. He had
long masked his irreconcilable aversion to Presby-
terianism ; but his translation to the " land of promise "
enabled him to fling aside every disguise. His Majesty
finally broke with the extreme party in the Kirk of Scot-
land : Bishops were maintained over their heads; and
he had determined to reinstate the episcopal order in
all its ancient rights, privileges, and revenues. To
effectuate this important purpose, a Parliament was ap-
pointed to assemble, at Edinburgh, in the month of
June. 1606; but the alarm of plague again caused a
transference to Perth. The Estates accordingly met in
the Fair City on Tuesday, the ist of July. The Earl of
Montrose was Commissioner, and the Earl of Dunferm-
line Lord Chancellor. It was arranged that the
" Riding," or equestrian procession of the members,
which was customary at the opening and close of the
Scottish Parliaments, should be attended with unusual
pomp and splendour.

TJie Affray at tJie Red Parliament. 223

In his eager desire to effectuate uniformity, the British
Solomon resolved that the robes of the Peers of Scotland,
when attending Parliament, should be assimilated to
those worn by their English equals. The Scottish Privy
Council being instructed accordingly, they, on ;th
June, 1605, issued an order that " all and sundry Dukes,
Marquises, Earls, and Lords, who shall happen to repair
to the next ensuing Parliament," should prepare them-
selves thus : The first three classes '•' with red cramsie
(crimson) velvet robes, lined with white ermine and
taffety, and the Lords in red scarlet robes, lined after
the same fashion, . . . that by this habit they may
be known from others of meaner and inferior ranks."
The Council renewed this Order on 23rd January, 1606,
and it was proclaimed at the Cross of Edinburgh.

When it was announced that the Parliament was to
meet at Perth, the magistrates there made every pre-
paration for the great event which was to dignify the
city, and, for a season, restore its ancient importance.
A weaponschawing, or military muster of the fencible
men of the burgh, was held on the North Inch, on
Friday, the 2yth June. Parties were selected to keep
order in the town during the sitting. Green cloth was
provided for furnishing the Parliament House in the
High Street. To prevent any scarcity of fresh salmon,
the salting of the fish was limited ; and a tun of wine
was to be divided betwixt the Commissioner and the
Earl of Dunbar, the prime manager for the King.

At the opening of the Parliament, the procession was
marshalled from the lodging of the Lord Commissioner,
which was probably Gowrie House, the scene of the
recent mysterious " Conspiracy," and now called the
" King's House." The crimson velvet and ermined

224 Narratives from. Scottish History.

robes of the principal nobility, and the scarlet and
ermined robes of the Lords, all with hoods, caused much
speculation amongst the gazing multitude, and in fact
led to the Parliament obtaining the distinctive designa-
tion by which it is known in history. Three Earls,
Caithness, Argyle, and Angus, bore respectively the
sword, sceptre, and crown. The members, of all de-
grees, rode in pair?. The cavalcade was opened by the
Commissioners of Burghs, who were followed by the
Commissioners of the Barons ; the Abbots and Priors ;
and the temporal lords, beneath the dignity of earls.
Then came the Archbishops and Bishops, in this
order : —

George Gladstanes, Archbishop of St. Andrews, and

John Spottiswoode, Archbishop of Glasgow.

Peter Rollock, Bishop of Dunkeld, and

Gavin Hamilton, Bishop of Galloway.

David Lindsay, Bishop of Ross, and

George Graham, Bishop of Dunblane.

Alexander Douglas, Bishop of Moray, and

Alexander Forbes, Bishop of Caithness.

James Law, Bishop of Orkney, and

Andrew Knox, Bishop of the Isles.

They wore black silk and velvet, and rode with foot-
mantles. To honour the Metropolitan, at his stirrup
walked a parish minister from Angus, Mr. Arthur
Futhie, a man of portly figure and gigantic stature,
carrying his cap in his hand. There was still another
Prelate, Peter Blackburn, Bishop of Aberdeen ; but he
was a meek man, professing conscientious scruples
about appearing in such parade, and therefore he refused
to ride with his right reverend brethren, and went
humbly on foot. Next to the Bishops, in the pro-
cession, rode the Earls, and then appeared the regalia,

The Affray at the Red Parliament. 225

the Commissioner, and the Marquises of Hamilton and
Huntly; and the train was closed by trumpeters, macers,
and other officers.

The spectacle, as it moved along the crowded streets,
in the summer sunshine, with trumpets blaring — every
window crowded with faces, and the onlookers shouting
as they saw the " honours ot the kingdom " pass by in
solemn stale — must have been singularly august and
imposing. It seems to have strongly impressed the
minds of the common people, many of whom shared the
opinions of the section of the clergy that condemned
everything savouring of Episcopacy. " And this," says
James Melville, " was called the Red Parliament, which
in old prophecies was talked many \ears ago, as the
common speaking was, then should be kept in Perth or
Saint Johnstoun, because all the noblemen and officers
of estate came riding thereto, and sat therein, with red
gowns and hoods, after the manner of England, for a
new solemnity, which many did interpret a token of the
red fire of God's wrath to be kindled both upon Kirk
and country." An old prophecy is noted by David
Calderwood, the Kirk historian. " It is constantly re-
ported that Dunbar, Bishop of Aberdeen, at the time of
Reformation, said that a Red Parliament in St. John-
stoun should mend all again. It was thought that he
was a magician. His speech is like to prove true, for
since that time defection has ever grown." *

* Gavin Dunbar, Archdeacon of St. Andrews, Dean of Moray,
and Lord Clerk Register, was promoted to the see of Aberdeen in
1518, and died in 1532, so that he did not live till the Reforma-
tion. Keith calls him " the good Bishop." He had two Romish
successors, William Stewart and William Gordon — the last of
whom perhaps uttered the prediction. See Keith's Catalogue of
Scottish Bishops, pp. 70-72.

226 Narratives from Scottish History.

The harmony of the Parliament was marred by some
untoward circumstances. The first disturbance was
caused by the equestrian Bishops, who were so indignant
at the conduct of their pedestrian brother, that as soon
as they reached the Parliament House they urgently
petitioned the Lord Chancellor to have him expelled
irom his seat, which was accordingly done, and the
episcopal bench, that session, lacked one of its members.

A considerable number of recusant ministers had
come to Perth with the view of opposing the policy of
the Court. " They conveened orderlie," says Calder-
wood, " in Mr. John Malcolme's, who was one of the
ministers of Perth, an upright-hearted man, who inter-
teaned a great number of them, when the toun was
throng, upon his owne expences." They had prepared
a Protestation against the advancement of the bishops,
but received no countenance, and all their efforts were
rendered nugatory. Mr. William Cowper, the other
minister of Perth (who afterwards became Bishop of
Galloway), was then among their number, and had
" made a sermon to the contentment of the godlie, the
day preceding the first ryding day of the parliament.
But nather he, his collegue, Mr. John Malcolme, nor
anie other of that sort, were suffered to preache again
before the Estats, during the tyme of the parliament."

The Court managers found little difficulty in carrying
through the measures on which they were bent, namely,
the restitution of the bishops, the erection of seventeen
prelacies in temporal lordships, and the imposition of a
national taxation of 400,000 merks. The town of Perth
met with favour, an Act being passed, confirming all the
burgh privileges and the Great Charter of November,
1600, and also granting to the town the parsonage house

The Affray at the Red Parliament. 227

and the right of patronage to the vicarage of Perth. On
the last day of the session, however, the famous Andrew
Melvill, the head of the Presbjterian party, having with
great difficulty got admission to the Parliament House,
rose to offer a protest against the ecclesiastical legislation.
" But how sowne he was espied," says Calderwood, " he
was sent to, and commanded to depart ; which notwith-
standing he did not, till he had made all that saw and
heard him understand his purpose."

There was another annoyance to the Parliament.
The Bishops, as we have seen, had taken offence at
their hroiher of Aberdeen, because he refused to go along
with them on horseback, for which obstinacy they pto-
cured his expulsion from his seat in the House. But
they very speedily raised a quarrel with Government on
a question of precedence connected with the procession.
They were dissatisfied with their allotted place in the
riding, between the Lords and Earls, considering it their
right to take precedence of both Lords and Earls, and
come after the Marquises, which was the old fashion.
This claim being disallowed, they took the matter so
seriously to heart that they would not join in the closing
procession at all, " but went quietlie on foote to the
parliament hous " — thus doing the very thing for which
poor Aberdeen had suffered reproach and indignity !

A still more serious matter disturbed the Red Parlia-
ment. Among the westland nobles present in Perth
were the Earls of Glencairn and Eglinton ; the two
sons of the Earl of Winton, George, the Master of
Winton, and Sir Alexander Seton. These brothers were
nephews of the Lord Chancellor, Sir Alexander Seton,
Earl of Dunfermline, and were also so closely related to
Hugh, Earl of Eglinton, that on his demise without

228 Narratives from Scottisli History.

issue in 1612, his succession fell to the younger, Sir
Alexander. The families of (ilencairn and Eglinton
had been long at feud, which was embittered by the
death of Earl Hugh's father, "a young nobleman of a
fair and large stature," whom, in April, 1586, John
Cunningham of Ross, brother of Glencairn, and several
accomplices named Cunningham, Maxwell, and Ryburn
assassinated, by shooting him kf as he was passing out of
his own house of Penon towards Stirling." Various
efforts to staunch the feud were made by the Kin? and
the Privy Council ; for Glencairn himself was sought to
be held answerable for the foul deed, upon no better
grounds than that he was the head of the Cunninghams,
and that the assassins had eluded punishment — though
he denied all implication. A form of assurance to keep
the peace, under a pecuniary penalty, was drawn up by
the Privy Council, on 2ist January, 1606, and seems to
have been accepted by both parties ; but this bond of
amity was soon accidentally broken.

It happened that about seven o'clock in the evening
of Tuesday, the opening day of the Parliament, and im-
mediately alter supper time, when the western sun was
suffusing the bald breast of Kinnoull hill, and the green
and gowany Inches of the city, with mellow glory, the
two Setons, attended by some nine or ten armed re-
tainers, were on their way to Lord Eglinton's lodging.
Near the town end of the Bridge — at the foot of the
High Street — " in the Bridgegate," as Archbishop Spot-
tiswoode describes the place — they accidentally crossed
the path of the Earl of Glencairn, who was accompanied
by thirty servants. As the two companies passed each
other, some of the menials of both houses — "some
rascal servants in the rear of their companies," as is told,

The Affray at the Red Parliament. 229

" being more malicious and quarrelsome " than their
masters — drew their swords, and began to fight together.
In a moment they were joined by the rest of their com-
rades, and the conflict became general. Shouts and
slogans, and the clashing din of sword and buckler,
resounded up the High Street, spreading terror and dis-
may. The Winton men were much outnumbered, but
they seem to have been stout fellows ; for they stood
their ground with great resolution, maintaining the battle
for fully three hours, till, at last, " the town rose in arms,
and put down the assaulters, to their great commenda-
tion." One man, John Mathie, servant to Glencairn,
was killed in the conflict, and several of the combatants
were wounded. Had the British Solomon been in
Perth, and heard the battle, perchance he would have
shown as much terror as he did when Bothwell broke
into Holyrood, in June, 1593, causing His Majesty to
come " frae the back-stair, with his breeks in his hand,
in ane fear."

As soon as the strife was quelled, the Privy Council
sent Heralds to the two Setons, charging them to ward
themselves in their lodgings, there to abide whatever
ulterior proceedings should be adopted ; but they fled
from the city that same night. The Council sat on the
morrow, and ordained letters to be directed charging
the brothers to compear before them, " at Perth, or
where it shall happen them to be for the time, upon the
sixth day next after the said charge, to answer to such
things as shall be laid to their charge touching the
insolence committed by them " on the street, and also
" touching the break of ward." The brothers gave no
heed to the summons; and, on loth July, the Council,

230 Narratives from Scottisk History.

still at Perth, denounced them both as rebels for their
non-compearance.

The Council despatched an account of the affiay to
the King, adding that the " fact, as it was very offensive
to the noblemen and Council, in respect of the time and
place, so has it in particular so grieved my Lord Chan-
cellor, as having discharged his brother's sons, and all
that were with them, any ways to come in his presence,
so is he also bent as any man living to have the truth of
the occasion and beginning of that insolence precisely
tried and condignly punished, without respect or favour
of any person." The King, who had had painful
experiences of such feuds in Scotland, wrote back to the
Council, on 6th August, directing them to make strict
investigation as to how the broil fell out, and which of
the two parties began it, whether it was intentional, or
by accident, or chaud mele, unintended by either of the
two parties against the other, and also that the Justice
General, High Constable, or other officers, should pro-
ceed to try the matter criminally.

On receipt of the royal missive, the Privy Council set
to work with a desire to compose the quarrel amicably
without resorting to criminal prosecution. But they
found their course beset with difficulties. The feud
involved other families in the west, and particularly Lord
Semple, who was related to the house of Eglinton.
The Council called Eglinton, Glencairn, and Semple
before them, and proposed that they should enter into a
submission of their differences. To this, Eglinton and
Semple agreed. Glencairn, on the other hand, "directly
refused to submit, because the submission imported
against him of the slaughter of the late Earl of Eglinton,
which he would never take upon him ; but offered him-

The Affray at tke Red Parliament. 231

self ready to stand trial at law for the slaughter, and held
that such trial ought to precede the submission." The
whole question was adjourned till the 20th of November ;
and in the end Eglinton and Glencairn, with a number
of their respective friends (including John Cunningham
of Ross, the assassin), entered into the submission,
which resulted in their apparent reconciliation.

A reconciliation betwixt Semple and Glencairn, how-
ever, took longer time to be effected. It was not
brought about till the 22nd May, 1609 ; and then the
scene was Glasgow Green. The Town Council of
Glasgow arranged that the Provost, with one of the
Bailies and the whole members of Council, should go to
the Green, attended by forty citizens in arms ; while the
other two Bailies, each attended by sixty of the citizens,
with " lang weapons and swords," should " accompany
and convoy the said noblemen, with their friends, in and
out, in making their reconciliation." And so the pacifi-
cation was happily concluded.

The Red Parliament — and no other Parliament was
held in Perth till the times of the Covenant — was long
remembered by the citizens who had witnessed its
splendours and its troubles. Nay more, its devotion to
the cause of Episcopacy was thought to entail great
misfortune upon the town. The stately bridge, which
John Mylne, the King's Master Mason, built, was de-
stroyed in October, 1621, by a terrible inundation of the
Tay. In those days people were extremely prone to
point out " judgments," and the fall of the bridge was
traced to the sins of the Burgh and of its Red Parlia-
ment. " The people," writes Calderwood, " ascribed
this judgment inflicted upon the town to the iniquity
committed at a General Assembly holden there. In

232 Narratives from Scottish History.

this town was holden also another General Assembly,
the year 1596, whereupon followed the schism which yet
endureth. In this town was also holden the Parliament
at which Bishops were erected, and the Lords rode in
their scarlet gowns."*

APPENDIX.

THE PARLIAMENT HOUSE OF PERTH. — In olden
times, Parliaments (some, at least) assembled in the
Church of the Dominican Monastery at Perth, where
also most, if not all, of the National Councils of the
Scottish Church were held. By the beginning of the
seventeenth century, a meeting-place for Parliaments
was found in a large building within an entry on the
north side of the High Street. The entry was once
known as " Bunch's Vennel," but afterwards as "Parlia-
ment Close," which latter designation it still retains. It
was about sixty paces west of the Market Cross, which
stood in the middle of the High Street, between the
Kirkgate and the Skinnesgate. The following notice of
the demolition of the Parliament House appeared in the
Edinburgh Annual Register for 1812, Part II., p. 93 : —

* Authorities : — Calderwood's History of the Kirk of Scotland,
vol. vi., pp. 485-494, vol. vii., p. 513 ; Melvill's Autobiography
ana Diary, pp. 636-641 ; Archbishop Spottiswoode's History, vol.
iii., p. 175; Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, vol i. p. 354, vol, iii.,
579 ; Chambers' Domestic Annals of Scotland, vol. i., p. 394 ;
Notes and Queries, Fourth Series, vol. i., p. 96 ; Register of the
Privy Council of Scotland, vol. vii., pp. 57, 160, 221-3, 233 4,
249, 288, 296, 328, 498-9 ; Moyses' Memoirs of the Aftairs of
Scotland, 1733, p. 107.

The Affray at the Red Parliament. 233

June nth. — Perth. — The old Parliament House of this place,
which was lately purchased by Mr. Duncan, druggist, has just been
taken down to make room for a new house, which the proprietor
means to build upon its site. Saturday last, the workmen, who
were employed in digging a vault for the intended structure, dis-
covered a large quantity of silver coins, about eighteen inches
below the level of the street. These had probably been deposited
in a box, but no vestiges of it, except a single hinge, could be dis-
covered. The coins themselves were in a state of oxydation, and
many of them adhering together in a lump. The whole weighed
5lb. I4oz. They seem to be chiefly English and Scotch pennies
of the thirteenth century. Mr. Duncan has been very liberal in
distributing specimens of this collection among his friends, and has
presented a few of the best to the Literary and Antiquarian Society.
Among the latter is a coin of John Baliol.

The site is now occupied by the Royal Arch Mason
Lodge.

16

XII.— The Kirk of Blair
Tragedy.

Calphurnia, — What mean you Caesar ? Think you to walk forth?
You shall not stir out of your house to-day.

Ccesar. — What can be avoided,
Whose end is purposed by the mighty gods ?
Yet Caesar shall go forth.

• — fulius Ccesar,

The power that I have on you, is to spare you ;
The malice towards you, to forgive you : Live,
And deal with others better.

— Cymbeline.

THE times have been — and happily they are long over
— when " deadly feud " played sad havoc in this country,
generally defying the powers of law and order. It was
not confined to the wild and warlike clans of the north.
Our historical and criminal records teem with examples
of the desperate violence which sprung out of the
rivalries and quarrels of Lowland houses. The great
Barons made open war on each other like the Chiefs of
the Highlands ; and the lesser lairds were equally prone
to vindicate or avenge, at their own hands, their personal
rights or wrongs. Ever and anon the commission of
some barbarous deed sent a thrill of horror through the
land, and shamed a feeble executive, which possessed
234

The Kirk of Blair Tragedy. 235

no adequate means of repression or punishment. Not
unfrequently the evil was aggravated, and confusion
worse confounded, when Government, painfully con-
scious of its inability to cope with and quell two
contending parties or combinations of parties, gave
commission to the one side to put down the other, as in
the case of the Clan Gregor. At the same time existed
the recognised principle of assythment or monetary
compensation for crime. If a murderer could induce the
kindred of his victim to accept a pecuniary mulct or
other reparation for what he had done ; if he procured
from them what was called a Letter of Slaines, he was
entitled to the royal pardon, and so went free and
unchallenged. It may be true, as has been said, that
this principle (anciently prevalent among many nations,
and originating in the idea that the resentment of
injuries sustained was a private, not a public duty) was
calculated to prevent the perpetuation of revenge, and
probably to some extent it accomplished that purpose
when the law was weak and the offender strong ; but on
the other hand it must have had a tendency to abate
any restraint which the dread of capital retribution
might impose upon men of malignant passions. Illus-
tration of this system, as well as of the unruly state of
society in Scotland a few years antecedent to the
Reformation, will be afforded by the ensuing narrative
of the assassination of a father and son, in open day-
light, on a Sunday afternoon, near the old parish kirk
of Blair, now Blairgowrie, in Perthshire, but then
called Blair, in Stormont.

Sir Walter Drummond, lord of Cargill and Stobhall,
and (according to genealogical reckoning) thirteenth
chief of the house of Drummond, flourished in the

236 Narratives from Scott is JL History.

reigns of the first two Jameses of Scotland. His lady
was Margaret, daughter of Sir William Ruthven,
ancestor of the Lords of Ruthven and Earls of Gowrie.
Sir Walter was knighted by James II., and died about
1445, leaving three sons — Malcolm, who succeeded him;
John, who entered the Church, and became Dean of
Dunblane and parson of Kinnoull ; and Walter, whose
near descendants figure prominently in the story
which we have to tell. In the year 1486, Walter got a
charter of the lands of Ledcrieff from his nephew, Sir
John (son of his brother Malcolm), the first Lord
Drummond. Walter of Ledcrieff left two sons — John,
his heir ; and James. John, called of Ledcrieff and
Flaskhill, had one son, George, who married Janet
Halyburton, of the honse of Buttergask, in Blairgowrie
parish ; of which union came two sons, George and
William, and a daughter. George, the husband of
Janet Halyburton succeeded his father in the family
patrimony, and purchased the lands of Newton of Blair
or Blairgowrie. Apparently after this last acquisition
arose the deadly feud, which culminated in the Sabbath-
day murders at the Kirk. From one cause or another,
bitter hatred against George Drummond of Blair was
engendered in the breasts of three of his neighbours,
John Butter of Gormock, William Chalmer of Drum-
lochie, and John Blair of Ardblair. From what can be
gathered, the quarrel lay principally on the part of
Gormok, and so deep was his animosity that nothing
could appease it but slaughter. He took counsel with
Drumlochie and Ardblair; and they being fully embued
like himself with the fierce and turbulent spirit of the
age, were ready to back him in any enterprise to satiate
his craving for revenge. Gormok nursed his wrath 10

1 he Kirk of Blair Tragedy. 237

fever heat, and finally resolved, with the hearty con-
currence of his friends, to put Drummond to death : nay-
more, it would seem, from what subsequently happened,
that they intended root and branch work — the destruc-
tion of Drumniood and his two sons. It is altogether
uncertain whether Drummond, though on unfriendly
terms with the three Lairds, had suspicions of the
desperate nature of the enmity which they bore him :
at all events, his neglect of the most ordinary precau-
tions for safety at the critical juncture would indicate
his ignorance of the plot contrived against him.

A summer Sunday in 1554 — it was the 3rd of June —
was chosen by the confederates for the consummation of
their vengeance. Their plan was deliberate murder,
to be done at the Parish Kirk. The three Lairds
mustered their friends and dependants in arms ; and
their following comprised William Roy, George Tully-
duff, William Chalmer, George M'Nesker, fiddler, and
others, Drumlochie's household-men ; Robert Smith,
with tenants and cottars of Drumlochie ; Andrew and
Thomas Blair, Ardblair's sons, with David M'Raithy, his
household-man, and Peter Blair and two others, tenants
of Ardblair ; William Chalmer in Cloquhat ; Alexander
Blair, half-brother to Gormok ; William Butter ; David
Blair in Knokmaheir, with John and Patrick, his sons ;
William Young of Torrence, and Thomas Robertson,
tenants to the Laird of Gormok ; and others of their
accomplices, " to the number " — as the record bears —
*"' of 80 persons, bodin in feir of weir, with jacks, coats
of mail, steel-bonnets, lance-staves, bows, lang culverins,
with lighted lunts (burning matches), and other weapons
invasive." Their opportunity (as already said) was to be
found at the kirk, where the Drummonds, dreading

238 Narratives from Scottish History.

nothing, were expected to attend the services of the day.
Obviously it was designed to fall upon the Drummonds
either before their entering or after their leaving the
church ; for we need not go the length of supposing that
the conspirators were so abandoned in villainy as to
determine on perpetrating murder in the sacred edifice
itself — a sacrilegious atrocity which would draw upon
their heads the spiritual thunders of the ecclesiastical
power in addition to the vengeance of the civil magis-
trate. Yet such a height of turpitude had occasionally
been reached by human depravity. Murder had been
committed in the house of God before. The Pazzi of
Florence appointed the moment when Lorenzo and
Giuliano de Medici should be kneeling at high mass in
the Cathedral, for the assassination of the brothers :
which plot was concocted under the direct auspices of
Pope Sixtus IV., and resulted in Giuliano's death. In
Scotland, parish churches were often the scenes of
violence down to a much later period. Lord Binning,
speaking in the Scottish Parliament of 1616, mentions
" the parish churches and churchyards being more fre-
quented upon the Sunday for advantages of neighbourly
malice and mischief nor for God's service."

The Lairds and their party came, says the record, to
the Parish Kirk of Blair, thinking to have slain Drum-
mond and his youngest son, William, whom they
fancied would accompany him ; from which we may
infer that the eldest son, George, who was married and
had children, was not at Newton that day, and pro-
bably did not reside there at all. Farther, it is not said
that Drummond and his son, William, went to church :
the record only stating that the party " could not come
to their perverse purpose." How the perverse purpose

The Kirk of Blair Tragedy. 239

failed is nowhere explained. But we may observe here
that we ought not to imagine, from the narrative
given in the record, that the Lairds inarched their men
to the kirk in martial order, with loaded culverins and
lighted lunts — the description being couched in a
purely formal style. Such a demonstration would have
defeated its object by alarming the Drummonds : and
an attack upon the church, after worship was begun, was
obviously not intended. What we may understand is,
that the Lairds and their followers went to the kirk,
partly singly and partly in small detached groups, just as
they were in the habit of doing every week, for Blair
was their Parish Kirk, as it was George Drummond's.
They were armed, no doubt ; but in those troubled days,
persons in the country districts went armed both to kirk
and market ; and, therefore, the appearance of the con-
spirators would excite no apprehension. Either the
Drummonds were not at church that day, or, if they
were, their enemies were prevented from carrying their
fell design into execution ; and so, baulked in their
hopes, they retired from Blair, and proceeded to the
house or Place of Gonnok to partake of dinner. On
sitting down at table, the Lairds, still breathing forth
threatenings, sent out spies to watch the Place of Blair,
and bring back speedy word if they saw the Drummonds
stir abroad.

The Place of Blair, or Newton of Blair, the seat of
George Drummond, was an old, strongly-built, half-
castellated manor house, standing high on the eastern
side of the hill facing the village of Blairgowrie, and
overlooking the wide and lovely expanse of the fertile
plain of Strathmore. The residence of the Laird of
Ardblair was situated to the south-west, beside the lake

240 Narratives front Scottish History.

of the same name, and surrounded on three sides by its
waters ; while in the contrary direction from Blairgowrie,
were the House of Gormok and the Castle of Drum-
lochie, and in their immediate vicinity was the ancient
Castle of Glasclune, held by the Herings or Herons.
It was an easy distance from Gormok to Blair. The
spies soon traversed it, and soon returned with the
welcome intelligence that George Drummond and his
son, William, had left Newton and gone down to the
village to recreate themseles in some of the pastimes
which were accounted lawful on the Sunday afternoons,
after the service of the church, under the Romish order
of things.

Granting that the Drummonds had been kept at home
by the suspicious presence of their foes, what more
natural than that, after the latter were gone away, the
father and son should deem all danger removed, and
embrace the opportunity of venturing out of doors ?
They accordingly descended the hill, and crossed over
to the market stance of Blair, an open space close to the
Parish Kirk, and there proceeded with their recreation.
The game in which they engaged was a quiet one — the
" row-bowls," a species of what we now call bowling.
In that age, there were at least two bowling games
practised — the " lang bowls," at which James III.
played in St. Andrews, on 28th April, 1487, and the
" row-bowls " which we find James IV. patronising on
2oth June, 1501, according to entries in the Lord
Treasurer's accounts.

The three Lairds, on receiving the report of their
active scouts, started from table, and hastened towards
Blair with the fixed design of embruing their hands in
the life-blood of their enemies. We can well suppose

The Kirk of Blair Tragedy. 241

that now the mail-coats and the steel-bonnets appeared,
with the lances, culverins, and burning matches. Mean-
while, the father and son were busy with their sport in
the market-place, never dreaming of the deadly storm
about to break upon them. They were alone " at their
pastime play," it is stated, " and at the row-bowls in the
High Market-gate beside the kirk of Blair, in sober
manner, trusting no trouble nor harm to have been done
to them, but to have lived under God's peace and the
Queen's," when, about two o'clock in the afternoon, the
armed party came upon them, to the number of 66 men
— more than a dozen of the original 80 having apparently
drawn back. The players were surrounded and attacked,
without the slightest chance of assistance or escape.
The assailants overpowered and cut them both down, —
stabbed and shot them, — " cruelly slew them, upon auld
feud and forethought felony, set purpose and provision,
in high contempt of the Queen's authority and laws."
Having finished their bloody work, the assassins left the
mangled corpses lying where they had fallen on the
bowling-ground, and made their retreat, exulting in the
triumph of their revenge. The shouts and cries, the
clash of steel, the reports of fire-arms, had alarmed the
denizens of the village, and now they crowded in con-
sternation and horror to the fatal spot. Drummond and
his son were dead, pierced and gashed with many
wounds, and the bodies were borne by the peasants up
the hill to Newton.

Without delay, accusation was laid against the
murderers, the principal of whom were well known ;
and the constituted authorities acted with commendable
alacrity. The Privy Council, on 4th June, issued a
commission to Lord Ruthven, " to search, pursue, and

242 Narratives from Scottish History.

take the Lairds of Ardblair and Drumlochie, and
charge the country of Perthshire," of which Ruthven
was Hereditary Sheriff, " to assist him therein if
need be, under the pain of treason, to seize houses
and raise fire." On the 131)1 of the same month, a
summons was issued, addressed to the Sheriff of Perth
and Messenger-at-Arms, for apprehending and bringing
the three Lairds and their accomplices before the Queen
and Privy Council, or take security for their appearance
before the Justices in the Tolbooth of Edinburgh, on
the 3rd of July. " And that ye charge them personally,
gif they can be apprehended," said the writ ; " and fail-
ing thereof, by open proclamation at the market-cross of
the said head burgh of our shire, where they dwell, to
come and find the said surety to you, within six days
next after they be charged by you thereto, under the
pain of rebellion and putting of them to our horn : the
whilk six days being bypast, and the said surety not
found to you in manner foresaid, that ye incontinent
thereafter denounce the disobeyers our rebels, and put
them to our horn ; and escheat and inbring all their
moveable goods to our use, for their contempt." The
Laird of Gormok found the requisite caution for him-
self— his sureties being John Crichton of Strathord and
James Hering of Glasclune. But on the 4th August,
the record bears that John Butter of Gormok was de-
nounced rebel and put to the horn for not underlying
the law for art and part of the cruel slaughter of George
Drummond of Ledcrieff and William, his son ; and the
cautioners, Strathord and Gasclune, were accordingly
amerciated. None of Gormok's confederates had as
yet underlain the law, nor seemingly had they found
caution.

The Kirk of Blair Tragedy. 243

The Executive, weak as it generally was at all times,
proved unremitting in its efforts to lay hold of the
culprits. All or most of them had sought refuge in the
north, and, it becoming known by whom they were
resetted, corresponding measures were taken. On the
1 6th November, George Gordon of Scheves (who is
styled knight, in another case, on i2th October, 1564),
James Gordon of Lesmore, and Gilbert Gray of Scheves,
found caution to underly the law at the next Aire (or
Court) of Aberdeen, for resetting, intercommuning, and
supplying William Chalmer of Drumlochie and his
accomplices, rebels at the horn for the slaughter of the
Drummonds ; and for affording the said rebels meat,
drink, and other necessaries, in the months of July and
August last. But two of the murderers were ultimately
seized, and, being sent to Edinburgh, were tried for
their lives, before the Justiciary, on the i2th December,
same year, 1554. Their names were Patrick Blair, a
tenant in Ardblair, and Robert Smyth alias Henry, a
tenant in Drumlochy. They were both convicted of the
slaughters laid to their charge, and were condemned to
lose their heads. In terms of the sentence, they died by
the axe of the executioner.

This was some expiation, though rather late in the
day ; but the chief offenders, the instigators of the
crime, were still at large, though living in constant
dread of arrest. Lord Drummond, as kinsman of the
bereaved family of Newton, had taken up the cause as
his own, and was using every endeavour to bring the
fugitives to justice, so that they had good reason still
to dread the worst. Two of their associates, perhaps
not guiltier than any of the others, had already
mounted the scaffold, and more would share the like

244 Narratives from Scottish History.

fate if the law could lay its grasp upon them. Time
dragged on — a weary time of anxiety and fear ; until at
length the Lairds made overtures for assythment,
according to the custom of the country. What they
desired was to obtain a Letter of Slaines, freeing and
relieving them of the legal burden of their crime. As
this obsolete kind of deed is curious and little known,
we shall lay the principal portion of such a document
before the reader, as it will render the subsequent
stages of the case in hand better understood. The
form of Letter which we now quote is of comparatively
late date, and runs in the name of the widow of a
deceased person, A. B., and as taking burden on her for
her children, then in their minority, and also in the
names of the nearest of kin and tutors of line to the
said children, and as taking burden for them ; and the
paper then proceeds : —

Forsameikle as we, in consideration of the repenting heart in-
wardly had, and manifested, declared, and shown to us by C.D.,
for the accidental slaughter of the said deceased A.B., upon the

day of — — last bypast, years ; and also because the

said C.D., and others in his name, have made condign satisfaction
to us for the said slaughter, and hath made payment to us of certain
sums of money, in name of kinboot and assythment : therefore, and
for certain other good causes and considerations moving us, we,
with one consent, and taking burden as said is, have remitted, for-
given, and discharged, and by the tenor thereof, freely remits,
forgives, and discharges the said C.D. of all malice, rancour,
grudge, hatred, envy of heart, and all occasions of actions, civil or
criminal, which we, or any of us, had, has, or any ways may have
in time coming, against the said C.D. for the said crime, and by
thir presents, receive him in such amity, friendship, and hearty
kindness, as he was with us before the committing of the said
crime, and as the same had never been committed ; and we, the
beforenamed persons, for ourselves, and in name and behalf of the

The Kirk of Blair Tragedy. 245

said children, in respect of their minority and lesser age, binds and
obliges us, that the said C.D. shall never be called, pursued, by
way of deed or otherwise, in or by the law, by us, or any of us, for
his committing of the said slaughter, in time coming, under the
pain of perjury, defamation, tinsell [loss] of faith, truth, and
credit : and also we, for ourselves, and in name foresaid, by thir
presents, will and grant that the said C.D. shall not suffer exile,
banishment, or any trouble whatsomever, through the premises :
most humbly beseeching his most gracious Majesty to grant also a
pardon and remission, under the Great Seal, in most ample form,
to the said C.D. for the foresaid crime : likeas we, or any of us,
binds and obliges us to renew, reform, reiterate, ratify, and approve
thir presents, as oft and. whensoever we, or any of us, be required
thereto, in the most ample form. In witness whereof, &c.

Proposals for accommodation were accordingly tendered
to the Drummonds. The three Lairds and their con-
federates made offer to Lord Drummond and young
George Drummond, the heir of Newton and Ledcrieff,
that they would do penance for their crime by pilgrim-
age ; that they would cause prayers to be offered, in
Blair Kirk, or any other, for the repose of the souls of
their victims ; that they would do homage to the family ;
and that they would pay 1000 merks. The paper which
they gave in was the following : —

THE OFFERS offered by the Laird of Gormok, &c., to young
George Drumniond of Blair, for the slaughter of his father.

THIR are the OFFERS whilk the Lords of Gormok, Drumlochie,
and Arblair, and their colleagues, offers to my Lord Drum-
mond and the son of umquhill George Drummond, his wife and
bairns, kin and friends, &c. : —

Item; In primis, To gang, or cause to gang, to the four head

Pilgrimages in Scotland.
Secondly. To do suffrage for the soul of the dead, at his Parish

Kirk, or what other kirk they please, for certain years to come.
Thirdly. To do honour to the kin and friends, as use is.

246 Narratives from Scottish History.

Fourthly. To assyth, the party is content to give to the kin, wife,
and bairns, 1000 merk.

Fifthly. Gif thir Offers be not sufficient thought by the party and
friends of the dead, we are content to underly (submit) and
augment or pare (reduce), as reasonable friends think ex-
pedient, in so far as we may lesumly (lawfully).

The four chief Pilgrimages of Scotland, assigned for
persons under penance for crime, were Melrose, Dundee,
Scone, and Paisley. " To do honour to the kin and
friends " was to perform homage to them ; the culprit,
we are told, came before the nearest of kin (reckoned
the avenger of blood), and in presence of the other
blood-relations of the deceased, having a halter about
his neck, and kneeling down, offered his drawn sword
by the point, and humbly craved forgiveness.

The offers did not satisfy the friends ; and really the
whole compensation proposed for the dastardly assassin-
ation of a father and his son fell little short of a mockery.
But various considerations had to be taken into account.
The Lairds had hitherto eluded justice ; but their lives
were still at stake, and there was the possibility that, if
no arrangement could be effected, desperation might
drive them into the commission of some new atrocity
upon their pursuers. For that reason alone, it was ex-
pedient that the matter should be amicably composed.
The friends sent back answers, implying that they were
willing to come to terms, but declaring those offered
insufficient.

ANSWERS by my Lord Drummond, <£rv., to the above OFFERS.
THIR are the ANSWERS that my Lord Drummond, his kin and
friends, makes to the OFFERS presently given in by the Lairds of
Gormok, Drumlochie, and Arblair, with their colleagues : —

The Kirk of Blair Tragedy. 247

Item, As to the first, second, and third article, they are so general
and simple in theself (themselves) that they require no answer.

Item, As to the fourth article, offering to the kin, friends, wife,
and bairns of George Drummond 1000 merk for the committing of
so high, cruel, and abominable slaughters, and mutilations, of set
purpose, devised of auld by the Laird of Gormok, and George
Drummond, his son, nor nane of his friends never offending to
them, neither by drawing of blood, taking of kirks, tacks, stead-
ings, or rooms ower ony of their heads, or their friends ; so, in re-
spect hereof, my Lord Drummond, his kin, friends, the wife and
bairns of George Drummond, can on noways be content herewith.

It is here distinctly stated, for the only time in the
papers extant, that Gormok was the prime instigator of
the murders. As to the farther progress of the negotia-
tion, we are left a good deal in the dark ; but from the
documents still to be adduced, we seem justified in con-
jecturing that all three Lairds succeeded in making their
peace, though the agreement with only one of them re-
mains on record.

That the Lairds of Gormok and Ardblatr made their
peace with the Drummonds may be inferred from the
existence of documents shewing that, after the lapse of
four years, the Laird of Drumlochie obtained a Letter of
Slaines for himself, his cousin, and six of his servants.
By the time Drumlochie was thus relieved from the
terrors of the law, he had become reduced to desperate
circumstances, so that he was able to pay no pecuniary
assythment whatever. He declared that he was brought
to the miserable pass of having neither lands, goods, nor
money, all apparently through his concern in the assass-
ination at Blair ; but he made propositions which the
Drummonds were pleased to entertain, and so a painful
business was closed.

248 Narratives from Scottisli History.

THE OFFERS of William Ckalmer of Drumlochie, for himself,
William Chalmer, his cousin, George 7'ulydaf, William
Chalmer, John Fydlar, James Key, John Ba>-ry, John Wood,
his servants.

IN THE FIRST, the said William offers to compear before my Lord
Drummond, and the remanent friends of umquhile George Drum-
mond, and there to offer to his lordship, and the party, ane naked
sword by the point ; and siclike to do all other honour to my lord,
his house and friends, that shall be thought reasonable in siclike
cases.

Item, offers to give my Lord and his heirs his Bond of Manrent, in
competent and due form, sic as may stand with the Acts of Parlia-
ment and laws of this realm.

Item, because through extreme persecution by the laws of this
realm, the said William has neither lands, goods, nor money, he
therefore offers his son's marriage to be married upon George
Drummond's daughter, freely without any tocher : and siclike the
marriage of the said William Chalmer, his cousin, to the said
George's sister.

Item, the said William offers him ready to any other thing whilk is
possible to him, as please my Lord and friends to lay to his charge,
except his life and heritage.

The Bond of Manrent was a formal obligation to render
personal military service to Lord Drummond on all
occasions when required to take the field, and against all
enemies save the Sovereign. The Drjmmonds, making
the best ot a bad bargain, accepted of the first two pro-
positions offered, and gave the Laird a Letter of Slaines,
upon which he executed and delivered his Bond of Man-
rent.

The Laird of Drumlochie1 s Bond of Manrent.

BE IT KENNED till all men by thir present letters, me William
Chalmer of Drumlochie, that forsameikle as ane noble and mighty
lord, David, Lord Drummond, and certain other principals of the

TJie Kirk of Blair Tragedy. 249

four branches and most special and nearest of the kin and iriends
of umquhile George Drummond of Leidcreiff, and William Drum-
mond, his son, for themselves, and remanent kin and friends of the
said umquhile George and William, has remitted and forgiven to
me their slaughters, and given and delivered to me Letters of
Slaines thereupon ; and that I am obliged by virtue of ane contract,
to give the said noble lord my Bond of Manrent, as the said Con-
tract and Letters of Slaine?, delivered to me, fully proports ; there-
fore to be bound and obliged, and by thir present letters binds and
obliges me and my heirs in true and aefauld [one-fold, sincere] Bond
of Manrent to the said noble and mighty lord, as Chief to the said
umquhile George, and William, his son, and the said Lord's heirs,
and shall take true and aefauld part in all and sundry their actions
and causes, and ride and gang with them therein, upon their ex-
penses, when they require me or my heirs thereto, against all and
sundry persons, our Sovereign Lady and the authority of this realm
allanerly excepted : and hereto I bind and oblige me and my heirs
to the said noble and mighty Lord, and his heirs, in the straitest
form and sicker style of Bond of Manrent that can be devised, no
remede nor exception of law to be proponed nor alleged in the con-
trary. In witness of the whilk thing, to thir present Letters and
Bond of Manrent, subscribed with my hand, my seal is hung, at
Edinburgh, the fifth day of December, the year of God one
thousand five hundred fifty eight years, before thir witness, Andrew
Rollok of Duncrub, James Rollok, his son, John Grahame of
Garvok, Master John Spens of Condy, and Laurence Spens, his
brother, wi£h others divers.

WILZAM CHALMIR of Drumloquhy.

The Bond, as will be observed, is dated four years sub-
sequent to the murders at Blair. The granter's seal is
appended, bearing a shield parted per f ess, a demi-lion
rampant, with foliage, in the upper hah of the shield,
and three branches in the lower half: " S. Wilelmi
Chalmer."

Although Chalmer says in his offers that he '* has
neither lands, goods, nor money," yet he is afterwards
found possessing Drumlochy, and also another estate

250 Narratives from Scottish History.

called Clayquhat, which consisted at that time of Nether
and Easter Clayquhat and Bohespic, and the lands now
called Ashmore. The name Clayquhat is derived from
the Gaelic clach-chiat — " The rocks of the wild cat " — a
very appropriate name for the wild rocky gorge through
which the Blackwater pours. The lands came into the
Chalmer family by a Charter of David II., and continued
in the line until the death of Robert Chalmers upwards
of forty years ago, when they fell to the Dicks, one of
whom married Robert's sister. The earliest trace of the
Chalmers in Drumlochy, is from a Charter granted by
King Robert Bruce " to Thomas de Camera, of the
lands of Drumlouche, in the SherirMom of Perth " (see
Robertson's Index of missing Charters, page 19, No. 95).
A Seal is appended to an Obligation by William
Chaumer of Drumlochy, to Thomas Blair of Balthayock,
dated i3th May, 1496. It is not known at what period
the Chalmerses sold Drumlochy, but it was the property,
in two equal parts, of Alexander Robertson, elder, and
Alexander Robertson, younger, both of Downie, and
valued at ^183 6s. 8d. each part, in the Rent all of the
County of Perth, 1649, Pa§e 38-

The Laird of Gormok seems to have mingled in some
of the treason of Queen Mary's days, and was laid under
arrest. In a letter from the Queen to Archibald, fifth
Earl of Argyle, dated at Edinburgh, 3151 March, 1566
(and preserved in the Argyle collection), her Majesty
directs that the Laird of Gormok, who had been in ward,
was to be set at liberty, upon his finding security ; " but
the sureties ye know maun be Lawland men, and not of
the greatest of our nobility, whilks are not commonly
taken sureties in sic cases ; " and when Gormok was re-
lieved, he was to go to Argyle, and abide in the Earl's

The Kirk of Blair Tragedy. 251

company, till the Queen should be " further advised."
That Gormok found the surety required appears from the
Register of the Privy Council, which contains an entry
of date, 29th April following, to the effect that "George
Maxwell of Neuwark, and John Sempill of Foulwod,"
had " become security that John Butter of Gormok shall
remain in free ward in company with the Earl of Argyle,
and not pass to the bounds of the Earl of Atholl."

It has been supposed that the Blairs of Ardblair were
a branch of the ancient line of Balthayock, whose
ancestor was Alexander de Blair of the times of William
the Lion and Alexander II. of Scotland. But whether
there was any such relationship or not, we come upon a
singular transaction in which George Drummond of
Blair, son of the murdered Laird, and Alexander Blair,
younger of Balthayock, became cautioners for Alexander
Blair of Friarton, near Perth, in a case of matrimonial
misunderstanding. In the Privy Council Register is
entered a contract, dated 27th December, 1567, whereby
Alexander Blair, younger of Balthayock, and George
Drummond of Blair, became " acted and obliged con-
junctly and severally for Alexander Blair of Friertoun,
that Jonete Kincragy, spouse to the said Alexander,
shall be harmless and skaithless of him and all that he
may lett in coming, under the pain of five hundred
marks ; and also that he shall receive the said Jonete in
house, and treat, sustain, and entertain her honestly, as
becomes an honest man to do to his wife, in time com-
ing ; and also the said Alexander shall pay to the said
Jonete the sum of sixteen pounds for her expenses and
sustentation the time bygane, viz., the half of the said
;£i6 at Uphallowmass, and the other half at Fastren's
Even " ; the cautioners further became bound that the

2 5 - Narratives from Scottish History.

childreu of the said Jonete by her first marriage with the
deceased David Lindsay, " shall be thankfully answered
and paid of their bairns' part of gear, whereunto they
have right as law will ; and in case any question or
quarrel arises in time coming betwixt the said Alexander
and Janet, they are content to submit judgment thereof
to Patrick Lord Lindsay of the Byres and Master James
Haliburton, Provost of Dundee, toward the haill pre-
mises ; and the said Alexander Blair obliged him to
relieve his said sureties of the premises ; and that for
him, his heirs, executors, and assignees." Which agree-
ment, we trust, was faithfully fulfilled in restoring
harmony betwixt the husband and wife.

At the Castle of Stirling, in May, 1578, King
James VI. granted a Commission to Patrick, Master of
Gray, James Hering of Glascloune, John Butter of
Garmok, Alexander Abircrumby of that Ilk, George
Dnimmond of Blair, and William Chalmer of Drum-
lochie, to search and apprehend within the shire of Perth,
try by an assize, and cause justice to be executed upon
David Hereing in Carnsak, John Hereing, his son, alias
Black John, John Hereing, his son, alias White John,
William Kingour, soutar, David Kingour, cowper, and
others, with other sorners and broken men, for com-
mitting various acts of sorning, robbery, theft, and
masterful reif and oppression in the shire of Perth.
Here we see the son and brother of the victims at the
Kirk of Blair, acting in conjunction with two of the
murderers !

In the year 1597, an attack was made upon the house
of Ashintully, in Kirkmichael parish, and its laird,
Andrew Spalding, was taken prisoner by an armed com-
pany of Perthshire gentlemen, with whom he had feud.

The Kirk of Blair Tragedy. 253

The case appears in the Books of Justiciary. On the
24th November, 1598, Sir James Stewart of Auchmadies,
Sir James Stewart of Ballieachan, Patrick Butter, fiar of
Gormok, James Stewart of Bodinschaws, Robert Stewart
of Facastell, James Stewart of Force, David Donald of
the Grange, Alexander Stewart of Cullelony, Patrick
Blair of Ardblair, William Chalmer of Drumlochy, and
eighteen others, were delated for besieging of the Place
of Ashintully, and taking of Andrew Spalding, Laird of
Ashintully, in the month of November, 1597. Here we
find Patrick Butter, fiar or heir of Gormok, evidently
the grandson of the Blair assassin; Patrick Blair of Ard-
blair, perhaps the son of John ; and William Chalmer of
Drumlochy, who (for aught we can tell) may have been
the third assassin. When the case was called in Court
— the King's Advocate, Mr. Thomas Hamilton, being
pursuer or prosecutor — the accused parties, most of
whom had found caution for their attendance, did not
all appear. Amongst those who had so found security
were Patrick Butter, fiar of Gormok ; Patrick Blair of
Ardblair ; and William Chalmer of Drumlochy. Butter's
cautioner was Domino Drumlochy — the laird of Drum-
lochie ; Ardblair's was Mercer of Meikleour ; and Drum-
lochie's was Patrick Butter of Gormok, the father, as we
take it, of the fiar. The case was not proceeded with
that day. The King's Advocate produced his Majesty's
warrant for continuation of the diet to the i5th
December following. The Laird of Ardbikie ; William
Wood, sometime of Latoun, now of Banblane ; David
Campbell, of Easter Denhead ; William Chalmer of
Drumlochy ; and Archibald Herring of Drimmy, offered
themselves to the assize, dissented to the continuation,
and thereupon asked instruments, in which they were

254 Narratives from Scottish History.

followed by John Pitcairn at the Mill of Inverkelour.
Afterwards, John, Earl of Athol, was repeatedly called
as cautioner and surety for James Stewart of Auch-
madies, and others, to have entered and presented
them ; but no appearance being made, his Lordship was
amerciated in 500 merks for each of the parties, and the
latter were adjudged rebels and put to the horn, and all
their moveable goods declared to be escheated. On the
1 5th December, 1598, the adjourned case came up
again, but was continued to the i6ih, ipth, 2oth, and
2ist, on which last diet it was continued further to the
23rd December; but no other procedure appears in the
record — the matter being probably quashed by private
agreement.

It has been seen that Ardblair's cautioner was Sir
Laurence Mercer of Meikleour. The Mercers had
already been connected by marriage with the Blairs of
Balthayock — Giles Mercer, one of the daughters of
Aldie, and aunt of Sir Laurence, having married Alex-
ander Blair of Balthayock, as her second husband; and
she survived him, and married a third time. In
regard to Gormok, again — a portion of that estate,
called Wester Gormok, passed into the hands of James
Mercer, brother of Sir Laurence Mercer of Meikleour,
some time in the beginning of the seventeenth century.
The Register of the Privy Council shows that James
Mercer and his wife and servants were accused of having
unlawfully down-cast and demolished a country bridge
near the Mill of Glasclune, on the lands of Robert
Stirling of Letter, in the summer of 1618. A formal
complaint on the subject was brought before the Coun-
cil, on i4th January, 1619, but failed for want of
proof : —

Tlie Kirk of Blair Tragedy. 255

Apud Edinburgh, xiiij die mensis January, 1619.

Anent our Sovereign Lord's Letters raised at the instance of
Robert Stirling of Letter, making mention that where, albeit the
demolishing and down-casting of brigs be a crime very hurtful to
the commonweal, and of a very rare example to be heard of in any
country, notwithstanding it is of truth that lately, upon the xxii
day of June last bypast, James Mercer in Wester Gormok ; Bessie
Anstruther, his spouse ; William Murray, his servitor ; James
Carmichael, Alexander Downy, William Whitehead, John and
James Clydes, as servitors to the said James Mercer, and others,
their accomplices, and with convocation of his Majesty's lieges to

the number of persons, bodin In feir of weir, come to the

Brig of Mylnehoill, standing upon the burn of Feryntre, partaining
to the said Complainer, and serving as a common passage to all his
Majesty's lieges haunting and resorting that way, and in special as
a common passage to and fra his Mill of Glasclune, and cutted, de-
stroyed, demolished, and cast down the said brig, not only to the
said Complainer's hurt and skaith, but to the hurt of all his
Majesty's lieges haunting that way. The Pursuer and Defender,
viz., James Mercer for himself and the others, being personally
present, &c., the Lords of Secret Council assoilzies simpliciter the
said haill Defenders fra this pursuit and compearance, and fra the
haill points, clauses, and articles contained therein ; because the
said complaint being admitted to the pursuer's probation, and
divers witnesses being produced, the said Pursuer failed in proving
any point of the said Complaint against the said Defenders.

The Mercers had also marriage relations with the family
of Butter of Gormok. A daughter of Gormok became
the spouse of Mercer of Melginch, the representative of
a branch of the Meikleour and Aldie stock, who died in
February, 1636. The Register of Deeds contains an
Obligation by John Mercer, son and heir of the late
Laurence Mercer of Melginch, to Katherine Butter,
daughter of the late Patrick Butter of Gormok, and
relict of the said Laurence, for 8000 merks, which, by
marriage contract, was to have been "wairit and bestowit

256 Narratives from Scottish History.

upon propertie of land" for behoof of the said Katharine;
which obligation is dated at St. Andrews and Bowbridge,
loth and 3<Dth June, 1636. In the latter part of the
century, the Ardblairs are found to have borrowed sums
of money from the Aldies. At Ardblair, on 26th Febru-
ary, 1677, John Blair of Ardblair, and James Blair, fiar
thereof, granted a Bond to Mrs. Grizell Mercer, Lady of
Aldie, for £190 145. Scots. At Edinburgh, on 3ist
March, 1683, James Blair granted a Bond to the said
lady for the sum of 400 merks ; and at Edinburgh, on
2nd April, 1683, James Blair of Ardblair granted a Bond
to her for £18 sterling. Further,, a Factory was executed
oy Dame Grizell Mercer of Aldie, at Paris, on 8th
October, 1688, to Mr. David Ramsay, writer in Edin-
burgh, giving him power to receive and uptake and give
receipts for the following debts in her name, viz., ^190
145. Scots from John Blair of Ardblair, and James Blair,
fiar thereof, of date, 24th February, 1677 ; 400 merks
Scots from James Blair, fiar of Ardblair, ot date i3th
March, 1683 ; ^18 sterling from do., of date 2nd April,
1683 ; and ^13 sterling from Patrick Ogilvie of Temple-
hall, of date 3rd April, 168-.

George Drummond of Ledcrieff and Blair, son of the
assassinated Laird, was married to Catherine Hay of
Megginch, aunt of the first Viscount Dupplin and Earl
of Kinnoull. Of this union came five sons, George,
John, Henry, Andrew, and James ; and four daughters,
Sybilla, Elizabeth, Catherine, and Janet. The third
son, Henry, took up the profession of arms, and joined
the French auxiliary forces of the Queen Regent, Mary
of Lorraine, when Leith was held by them against the
English under Lord Gray of Wilton, in 1560. George
of Blair is entered in the Register of the Privy Council,

The Kirk of Blair Tragedy. 257

on the ;th September, 1569, as having "become surety
and law-burrows for David Ramsay, brother-german to
George Ramsay of Banff, that Sir Hugh Curry, parson
of Esse, should be harmless and skaithless of the said
David Ramsay, and all that he may let, in time coming,
but fraud or guile, but as law will, under the pain of
500 marks." The Laird of Blair is heard of again in
1583. For some time there had been disputes between
Glenurchay and Weem, as to their respective rights in
the lands of Cranach, the Rannoch, Auchmore, and
others ; and Glenurchay was accused of spoliation on
the Laird of Weem and his tenants. By a Contract,
dated at Perth, the i4th November, 1583, the quarrel
regarding the lands was arranged, and all other dis-
putes were referred to the arbitration of John Campbell
of Lawers : and the witnesses to this Contract were the
Earl of Athol and George Drummond of Blair. The
latter, about six years afterwards, did something which
incurred the displeasure of James VI. ; for, at the Castle
of Stirling, on 23rd August, 1589, the King granted a
Warrant under the Signet to set at liberty George
Drummond of Blair " furth of his present ward within
our burgh of Perth and bounds limited to him there-
about." George deceased on 4th January, 1594, and
was succeeded by his eldest son, George. The second
son, John, had died young. The fourth, Andrew,
became minister of Panbride, and left four sons : —
Henry, who acquired the lands of Gairdrum ; Patrick,
who obtained the honour of knighthood, and held the
office of Scots Conservator at Campvere ; James, who was
a clergyman in the Diocese of Durham ; and Archibald.
George, third of Blair, married Giles, Lady Mugdrum,
a daughter of the house of Abercromby of that Ilk, and

258 Narratives from Scottish History.

died on the nth August, 1596, leaving two sons, John
and George, and one daughter, Jean. John Drummond
became fourth Laird of Blair, and married Agnes,
daughter of Sir David Herring or Heron of Lethendy
and Glasclune ; but there was no child of the marriage.

John's grandmother, Catherine Hay of Megginch,
was still surviving in 1613, when it becomes known
that she was at variance with him regarding her
liferent right, which she had attempted to assert by
violent proceedings. At Edinburgh, on i6th March,
1613, Letters under the Signet were issued, proceeding
on a Complaint by John Drummond of Blair, who was
heritably infeft in the lands of Blair in the shire of
Perth, against Catherine Hay, relict of George Drum-
mond of Blair, who pretended she had right of conjunct
fee, at least of liferent, to the said lands, that she had
suffered the halls, chambers, stables, barns, byres, dove-
cots, etc., to perish and decay, fall down, and become
altogether ruinous, in roof, thack, walls, doors, windows,
keys, locks, purpell walls, joisting, lofting, and other
parts," also the close, yards, and dykes of the same, and
had destroyed and cut down the greenwood and grow-
ing trees, fruit trees, and others, and had not kept the
planting and policy of the said lands in the same state
that they were at the decease of her said husband;
charging the said Catherine Hay, therefore, to find
caution and surety enacted in the Sheriff Court Books of
Perth to build up and repair all the halls, chambers, etc.,
and make them in as good condition as they were in at
the decease of her said husband, and to keep them so
during his lifetime. Of what followed, we can find no
record.

John's sister, Jean, became the wife of her cousin,

The Kirk of Blair Tragedy. 259

Henry Drummond, Laird of Gairdrum. John himself
died on the 2nd May, 1620, and having no issue, was
succeeded in his inheritance by his only brother, George.
This fifth Laird obtained a Royal Charter, of date 9th
July, 1634, whereby the town of Blairgowrie was erected
into a burgh of barony. He married Marjory Graham,
daughter of Bishop Graham of Orkney, who was pro-
prietor of the lands of Gorthy. The son of this marriage,
George, who was born at Blair, on the 2Qth November,
1638, succeeded as sixth Laird on his father's demise.
In the year 1682, he sold the estate of Blair; and two
years afterwards, in 1684, he made purchase of the lands
of Kincardine, in Menteith, from his kinsman, James,
Earl of Perth, and Chancellor of Scotland. These lands
had once belonged to the family of Montfichet or
Montifex, which came over to England in the train of
the Conqueror, and subsequently acquired large posses-
sions in Scotland. Sir William Montifex was Justiciar
in Scotland in the fourteenth century, and had three
daughters, who were his co-heiresses, among whom his
estates were divided at his death. To Mary, the eldest
of the sisters, he gave the largest share, comprising the
baronies of Auchterarder, Cargill, and Kincardine. She
was united to Sir John Drummond, who died in 1373 ;
and from the time of that marriage, Kincardine had re-
mained with the house of Drummond. After the Earl
of Perth sold the lands, the purchaser changed their
designation to Blair-drummond, and erected a suitable
memorial-seat. But further than this stage we need not
follow the history of the family.

The ancient Place or House of Blair was burned
down about the middle of the seventeenth century, —
some say during the struggle against the Cromwellian

260 Narratives from Scottish History.

usurpation in Scotland ; and a story is told that a num-
ber of persons concealing themselves in the strong and
deep vaults underneath, were preserved from the fury of
the conflagration that raged overhead. The edifice was
afterwards rebuilt in much of the former style, and con-
tinued as the manor-house till near the end of the
eighteenth century, when the then proprietor erected a
new residence in the neighbourhood. Various ghostly
legends belong to the old house, — particularly that it
was haunted by a spectre called " The Green Lady,"-
one of those " Green-gowns " so common to Scottish
castles.*

* Dr. Malcolm's Genealogical Memoir of the House of Drum-
ntond, p. 144 ; Pitcairn's Criminal Trials in Scotland, vol. i., part
i-> P- 367, 371-374, 4535 vol. ii., pp. 63, 64, 68; Lord Kames'
Historical Law Tracts : Appendix, No. I ; Tenth Report of
the Royal Commissioners on Historical Manuscripts : Papers of
Drummond- Moray, pp. 82, 87-88 ; Register of tke Privy Council
of Scotland, vol. i., pp. 455, 598 ; vol. ii., p. 26 ; vol. xi. p. 497 ;
vol. xiv., p. 12 ; Sinclair's Statistical Account of Scotland, vol.
xvii,, p. 191 ; New Statistical Account of Perthshire, p. 897 ;
Registers of Deeds ; Burton's History of Scotland, vol. vi., p. 15.

XIII.— The Seneschal of
Strathearn.

But say on —

What has occurred, some rash and sudden broil ?
A cup too much, a scuffle, and a stab?

-You have not

Raised a rash hand against one of our order ?
If so, withdraw and fly.

— Byron's "Marino Fatiero."

THE history of the Earldom of Strathearn, the only
County Palatinate in Scotland " during the fourteenth,
and part of the fifteenth century," stretches far back,
seemingly into the age of the fabulous. The first known
line of potentates holding this noble domain were of
Celtic race, and clung to Celtic habits and usages in the
face of Saxon and Norman innovations. The territory
over which they bore sway was of great extent — though
perhaps scarcely so great as Scotstarvet described it,
" the haill lands lying betwixt Cross Macduff at New-
burgh, and the west end of Balquhidder, in length ; the
Ochill hills and the hills called Montes Grampii, in
breadth." Gilbert, the third Earl, was the founder of
the Abbey of Inchaffray, in 1198. He and his Countess
Maude declared in their Charter that " so much do
we love " the spot, " that we have chosen a place of

261

262 Narratives from Scottish History.

sepulture in it for us and our successors, and have
already there our eldest born." The endowment was
bountiful ; and five parish churches (those of St. Kat-
tanus of Abbyruthven, St. Ethirnanus of Madderty, St.
Patrick of Strogeth, St. Mechesseok of Ochterardouer,
and St. Beanus of Kynkell) were included in the grant.
To Earl Gilbert has also been attributed — though on
slender grounds — the foundation of the Bishopric of
Dunblane — his demise being thus recorded in a
Chronicle probably written in that see : " Gilbcrtus
fundator canonicorum Insule Missarum et episcopatus
Dunblanensis obiit Anno Domini 1223." Some of his
successors were generous benefactors of Inchaffray.
One of them, Earl Malise, in 1258, presented the Abbey
with certain of his slaves (nativi was their legal designa-
tion)— namely, Gilmory Gillendes, and John Starnes, the
son of Thomas and grandson of Thore, with his whole
property and children. For absolute serfdom was then
a Scottish institution, comprising part of the labouring
class, who were bought and sold with the land to which
they were attached ; and gifts of the nativi by their
masters to the religious establishments of those times
occur frequently in the records ; but the Church must
be credited with having gradually pursued a system of
manumission.

The last four Earls of the Celtic house of Strathearn
all bore the name of Malise, and their history is much
confused, apparently defying thorough disentanglement.
According to the recent researches of Dr. W. F. Skene,
the dignity of the third Earl was considerably enhanced
by his acquisition, through marriage, of an additional
Earldom — that of Caithness and Orkney. The Caith-
ness Earldom was possessed for many generations by the

The Seneschal of Strathearn. 263

Norwegian Earls of Orkney, who held the islands under
the Kings of Norway, by the Norwegian custom, and
Caithness under the Kings of Scotland, its tenure being
in conformity with Scottish law. Previous to 1231,
when Earl John, the last of these nobles, died, the
southern half of Caithness, now called Sutherland, had
gone to the family of De Moravia ; and Earl John was
succeeded by Magnus, a son of the Earl of Angus, who
evidently deriving his right through a Norwegian mother,
became Earl of Orkney and Caithness, obtaining only
the other half of Caithness. The line of Magnes con-
tinued for a century, and ended in a female heiress,
Maria, widow of Hugh de Abernetheyn who contracted
second nuptials with the third Malise, Earl of Strathearn,
and he consequently assumed the title of Caithness and
Orkney. The fourth Malise — the last of the Celtic
Earls — was attainted and forfeited ; but before this mis-
fortune, the Earldom of Caithness had passed by
marriage to the Earl of Ross, and the Earldom of
Orkney, also by marriage, to Sir William Sinclair of
Roslin.

In 1343, the Strathearn Earldom was conferred by
David II. upon Maurice, eldest son of Sir John de
Moravia or Moray of Drumsergard, and Mary, daughter
of that third Malise who obtained the Caithness and
Orkney Earldom. Sir John's bride brought him various
lands, including those of Abercairny ; and he was the
progenitor, through his second son, Alexander, of the
Abercairny Morays. Earl Maurice accompanied his
sovereign in the invasion of England, and fell at Durham,
where King David was taken prisoner. Maurice left no
children. On David's return from his English captivity,
he granted the Earldom of Strathearn to Robert, High

264 Narratives from Scottish History.

Steward of Scotland ; and when the Steward ascended
the throne, in 1371, as Robert II., he bestowed said
Earldom, and also, in the same year, that of Caithness,
upon his eldest son, David, by the second marriage.
At this time, as would appear, the Sirathearn Earldom
was constituted a Palatinate — the only one, as already
mentioned, that ever existed in Scotland.

What was this Palatinate ? Our great authority on
Scottish Peerage Law, the late Mr. John Riddell, Advo-
cate, thus endeavours to answer the question : " What
was the peculiar nature of the distinction does not
appear." But he goes on to say, "It might be inferred"
that the title properly of the Earls of Strathearn " was
Comes Pa la tit ; which denotes a high dignitary about
the Palace, because about the middle of the fourteenth
century, Malise Earl of Strathearn is stated to have re-
signed his Earldom to the English Earl of Warren
(Robertson's Index, 5) ; and Selden notices a seal of the
latter, where, along with his other titles, he uses those of
Earl of Strathearn and Comes Palatii, — none of his
English fiefs having been Palatinates, and the term
Palatii, according to his authority, being unknown in
England. (Titles of Honor, 533.) How the Earls of
Sirathearn came afterwards to be styled ' Palatine,' may
be explained by a remark of Sir George Mackenzie, that
elsewhere, even Earls of the Palace were occasionally
termed Palatine quasi a palatio" (Works, v., ii., 542.)
Mr. Riddell adds in a Note — " The epithet ' Earl
Palatine,' however, was liable to various acceptations.
It sometimes denoted a subaltern situation, merely
officiary, with the right of conferring degrees, and con-
stituting notaries, such as was bestowed by the Pope or
Empress upon special retainers and functionaries at their

TJie Seneschal of StratJiearn. 265

courts. These in the case of the Pope were styled Earls
Palatine, * sacri Palatii,' et aule ' Lateranensis.' Their
authority anciently extended to Scotland."

King David, at his death, left no son, but an only
daughter, Euphemia. She resigned Caithness to her
uncle, Walter Stewart, Lord of Brechin, and afterwards
wedded Sir Patrick Graham of Kincardine and Dundaff,
who, in her assumed right, took the title of Earl of
Strathearn, although the grant by King Robert ex-
pressly restricted the descent to heirs male of his son,
David.

The heritable jurisdiction, or power to judge in civil
and criminal causes, pertaining to the Strathearn Earl-
dom, was delegated by the Earls to a deputy, who was
called the Seneschal or Steward of Strathearn, which
office became hereditary in the family of the first Sene-
schal, Malise, younger brother of Earl Gilbert, who
founded IncharTray. The Seneschal's Court was held at
what was known as the Stayt, Schat, or Sktat of Crteff —
an artificial hillock, or sepulchral mound, extending to
about twelve yards in diameter, in the middle of a field
on the lands of Broich, near the town. The Skeat re-
mained entire, distinguished by a couple of flourishing
larches, till about forty years ago, when it was levelled
and ploughed over, and on its site being excavated, two
cists were found, one of which contained human remains
and a cinerary urn. The Court was shorn of its civil
jurisdiction in the reign of Jair.es IV., but continued to
be held for the trial of criminal causes down to the aboli-
tion of the Heritable Jurisdictions in 1748. It had its
usual officers, including a headsman or hangman, whose
annual salary, in 1741, amounted to ^"27 95. Scots,
payable in meal and money. Malise, the first Seneschal,
18

266 Narratives front Scottish History.

was followed in succession by his son, Gillineff; his
grandson, Malise ; and his great-grandson, Henry. This
Henry had an only daughter, who was married to Sir
Maurice Drummond, first knight of Concraig (the
ancient name of the rock on which Drummond Castle
is built), who obtained with her the lands and offices of
her father. The Seneschalship descended to their son,
Maurice, who, in 1362, received from Robert, the High
Steward, Earl of Strathearn, a charter of the lands of
Dalkelrach and Sherymare, with the Coronership of the
whole County, and the keeping of the north catkend of
Ouchtermuthil, with escheats and other privileges there-
to belonging ; in 1372, he had a charter of the lands of
Carnbaddie; and, afterwards, he obtained the superiority
of the lands of Inner Ramsay, Pethie, and Newlands,
in the shire of Marr. Maurice's eldest son, Sir John
Drummond of Concraig, became third Seneschal of
Strathearn of the Drummond branch ; and a fatal feud in
which he had the misfortune to be involved becomes
now the subject of our narrative. He was twice
married ; first, to the daughter of Ross, Lord of Craigie,
near Perth, by whom he had four sons ; and second, to
Maude de Graham, sister to that Sir Patrick Graham
who, by presumed right of his wife, Euphemia, the
heiress of David, son of Robert II., made himself Earl
of Strathearn. But eventually a quarrel broke out be-
twixt the two brothers-in-law, converting them into bitter
foes.

Sir Alexander Moray, younger brother of Maurice,
Earl of Strathearn, on whose death, at the Battle of
Durham, the Earldom reverted to the Crown for lack of
a direct heir, married the Lady Johanna or Janet de
Monymuske, sister of the Scottish Queen, Euphemia

The Seneschal of Strathearn. 267

Ross. The match was an ill-assorted and unhappy one ;
and, within three years of its celebration, the lady
abandoned the society of her husband. He attempted
to force her back, and with that object entered into a
singular paction. In the Parish Church of Perth, on the
2oth April, 1378, it was covenanted between Sir Alex-
ander Moray and Hugh de Ross, baron of Balyndolch
(apparently the absconding lady's brother), that the latter
should cause to be brought within the diocese of Dun-
blane Johanna, the wife of the said Alexander, before
the ensuing feast of St. John the Baptist, and should
cause the said Alexander to be certified of her being
there by a warning of seven days, for which he should
pay to the said Hugh seven marks before-hand, with
other seven on such warning being made, and to be paid
on the completion of the deforcement (the forcible
bringing of the lady within the diocese) : and if the said
Hugh should fail to bring the said Johanna within the
said diocese, he should restore the seven marks prepaid
to him ; and the said Hugh promised to further by his
aid and counsel, and in no way retard, the deforcement.
Such was the bargain. Whether the stipulated " de-
forcement " took effect or not, is uncertain ; perhaps it
succeeded ; for there is a subsequent document, in the
form of a discharge, by Hugh Ross of a sum of ^17 6s.
8d. sterling received by him from Alexander of Moray,
in which the said Alexander was indebted by reason of
an agreement made between him and Lady Johanna of
Monymusk, in the Parish Church of Fowlis, on 2nd
June, 1387. Ultimately, in 1398, the lady executed a
will, by which she constituted her husband to be her
executor, and bequeathed to him and their children her
whole estate, excluding her brothers, sisters, cousins,

268 Narratives from Scottish History.

male and female, and whole kindred from the disposi-
tion of her goods.

Unfortunately, in the year 1391, Sir Alexander Moray
chanced to slay a person named William of Spaldyne,
for which misdeed he was cited to appear in the Court
of the King's Justiciar, to be held at Fowlis by the
Justiciar's deputes, Sir John Drummond, the Seneschal,
and Maurice of Drummond. The Court sat down, on
the yth December, 1391, when Moray appeared, and by
his torspeakers or counsel, Sir Bernard de Hawden and
John of Logic, declined the jurisdiction, because he had
once before been addicted for this slaughter, and had
been repledged to the law of Clan Macduff by Robert,
Earl of Fife, and was not bound to answer therefor
before any other Judge, until the law to which he had
thus been repledged had enjoyed its privilege ; and he
therefore craved to be acquitted from the present indict-
ment and from all further pursuit thereanent. This
decli nature was founded on the privilege said to have
been granted to the famous Thane of Fife by Malcolm
Canmore, after the downfall of Macbeth, that he could
repledge from other Courts all persons of his own clan
and territory — or, as other accounts state, all persons
within "the ninth degree of kin and bluid " to him.*

* As to the right of sanctuary in Scotland, Mr. Riddell quotes
Wyntoun, who states that " there were only three originally who
were partakers in such a right." The words of Wyntoun are —

"That is, the black Priest of Weddale,
The Thane of Fife, and the third syne
Whoever be Lord of Abernethyne. "

Weddale (signifying the " Vale of Woe ") anciently comprehended
the whole parish of Stow, and belonged to the Bishops of St.
Andrews. Mr. Riddell adds that "with us the privilege of
sanctuary was by no means so common as has been apprehended."

The Seneschal of Strat/iearn. 269

How did the Judges sitting at Fowlis deal with
Moray's plea ? It did not satisfy them ; but they pro-
nounced no rash decision. The case was continued for
the consideration of the Chief Justiciar, the Lord of
Brechin. It came before him, and he gave his deliver-
ance that the Law of Clan M icduff did not cover Sir
Alexander, and therefore that he should abide trial at
Fowlis. Moray obeyed, though doubtless unwillingly ;
and the Court found him guilty, but did not punish him
" with such severities and rigour of law as might have
been shewn," that is to say, in common parlance, he was
let cheaply off. Notwithstanding, however, of the
lenient sentence, he conceived that he was wronged, a
burning hatred to the Seneschal arose in his breast, and
he straightway devoted himself to the bringing about of
revenge. As soon as Sir John's brother-in-law came to
be Earl Palatine of Strathearn, Moray and his kindred
began to importune him to divest Drummond of the
Seneschalship. The Earl heard their insinuations and
complaints, and at length, pressed by their persistence,
endeavoured to persuade Sir John, for the sake of peace
and good neighbourhood, to resign his office ; bnt Sir
John held fast by his rights. The brothers-in-law had
high words on the matter, and parted with angry re-
criminations. By the efforts of their friends, a seeming
reconciliation was effected, in solemn token of which the
Earl and the Seneschal went to the altar and partook
together of the Holy Sacrament, thus appealing to
heaven that they were sincere in their bond of peace.
But the hallowed rite had no permanent efficacy in pre-
venting a recurrence of the quarrel. Moray renewed
his sinister representations, and, the better to promote
his object, enlisted the influence of his wife, who was

270 Narratives from Scottish History.

the grand-aunt of Euphemia, Countess of Strathearn.
Johanna undertook the ungenerous task, and plied her
arts to such purpose that she finally prevailed on the
Earl to pledge his word of honour that " he would dis-
pose of the Steward's office as he chose, or he should
not be Earl of Strathearn." Moray's end was now in a
fair way of being accomplished.

The elements of discord and revenge combined to
hurry on a catastrophe. Sometime in the year 1413,
Sir John Drummond was holding his Court at the
Skeat of Crieff, when he was suddenly apprised that
the Earl of Strathearn was on the way from Methven
at the head of an armed band of retainers, avowedly to
break up the Stewartry Court, as the first open step
towards depriving the Steward of his office. On this
alarming news Sir John's thoughts probably reverted
to the dark crime perpetrated, upwards of half-a-cen-
tury before, by Sir William Douglas, the " Flower of
Chivalry," who, because the Sheriffship of Teviotdale,
which he coveted and fancied to be his right, was given
to his brave companion-in-arms, Sir Alexander Ramsay
of Dalhousie, burst into the Sheriff Court at Hawick,
assaulted and wounded Ramsay, and carrying him off a
prisoner, flung him into the dungeon of Hermitage
Castle, where he was deliberately starved to death !
With that dread example revolving in his mind, Sir
John, a bold and intrepid man, determined to repel force
by force. He was well accompanied by friends and
attendants, to whom he announced the approaching
danger. They flew to arms, declaring that they would
make common cause with him. At their head, he
hastened to intercept the enemy. The hostile parties
soon met near a ruined Druidical circle at Ferntower.

The SenescJial of Strathearn. 271

There was no parley. Sir John and his supporters
rushed to the encounter, and he, singling out the Earl,
struck him to the ground at the first blow. It was a
mortal stroke. The Earl, without a word, expired at his
brother-in-law's feet ! Confounded by the fate of their
lord, his followers instantly scattered, leaving the
redoubtable Seneschal in possession of the field.

Sir John and his chief adherents, on a little reflec-
tion, dreading the vengeance of the powerful houses of
Graham and Moray, lost no time in consulting their
own safety by flight from Scotland. They embarked
for Ireland; but a storm drove their bark back upon
the Scottish shore, where several of the fugitives were
seized. The Seneschal eluded capture, and eventually
escaped to Ireland. But two of his captured friends,
William and Walter Oliphant, were brought to trial
and suffered death for participation in the Earl of
Strathearn's slaughter. Sir John himself was out-
lawed ; but previously, in 1408, he had made over his
estate and Seneschalship to his son Malcolm, who now
entered into possession. The exile never returned to
his native country, but spent his latter years in " Erin's
isle," where he died.

The Earldom of Strathearn was resumed by James I.,
and given to the Earl of Athol, who forfeited it
and his life by his share in the King's murder at Perth ;
and it was finally declared, in 1442, to have fallen to
the Crown. The Seneschalship remained in Sir John
Drummond's family until 1473, when his grandson,
Maurice, sixth Laird of Concraig, under the pressure
of pecuniary difficulties, disposed of the larger portion
of his patrimony together with his hereditary office, to
Sir John Drummond of Stobhall, afterwards first Lord

2J2 Narratives from Scottish History.

Drummond. It is said that "ever since the killing of
the Earl of Strathearn, the family " of Concraig " had
no settled peace, but were forced to keep house to so
many friends and servants for their security, that it
brought a consumption upon the fortune, engaged it in
burdens, and made " Maurice " part with many of his
lands to relieve his debts." The transfer of the office
to Drummond gave umbrage to the Abercairny Morays.
Maurice's wife was a daughter of Sir Andrew Moray of
Abercairny, who had consented to the marriage mainly
on the expectation of obtaining the Seneschalship ; but
Maurice disappointed such hope. In 1474, Winfridus
de Moravia of Abercairny, Sheriff-depute of Perth,
by virtue of a precept from Chancery, gave seizin, by
delivery of a white rod, to Sir John Drummond, of the
offices of Steward of Strathearn, and Coroner and
keeper of the north catkend of Ouchtermuth.il and
forestries of Strathearn, with escheats, forfeitures, and
fees thereunto belonging.

The knight of Stobhall was speedily disturbed in his
acquisition of the Seneschal's office. Before seizin was
given him, the Morays turned their hostility against
the civil jurisdiction of the Stewartry, and strove to
be exempted from it. On a representation to the King,
Sir William Murray of Tullibardine obtained a charter,
in 1473, making a fresh erection of his lands into a
Barony, and granting an exemption of them from the
jurisdiction of the Stewards of Strathearn. Shortly
after, from some cause or another, Stobhall was dis-
placed from the Seneschalship, and his successor was
Tullibardine. Two documents are still extant con-
nected with the procedure of the Court, in 1475, when
Tullibardine was Steward. One is a Notarial Instru-

TJie SenescJial of StratJiearn. 273

ment, dated the i2th May, 1475, shewing that James
Heryng, son and apparent heir of David Heryng of
Lethendy, appeared as prolocutor for William Talzour,
before Sir William Murray of Tullibardine, Steward of
the Stewartry of Strathearn, and John Murray of
Trewyne, his Depute, in the Court of the Stewartry,
declaring to be false a certain judgment given by the
mouth of William Reid, Dempster of the said Court : —

" I, James Heryng, forspeaker for William Talzour, says to
you, William Reid, dempster of the Steward Court of Strathearn,
that the doom that thou hast given with thy mouth, saying that
the brocht [pledge] that Master Thomas of Mureff found is of avail,
and the brocht that I, James Heryng, forspeaker for the said
William Talzour, found in the Sergeand's hand of the said Court,
in the name and on the behalf of the said William, is of no avail,
is false and rotten in the self, because it is given express in the
contrary of the course of common law, protesting for may reasons
to show when myster is, and there to Sergeand of the said Court
ane brocht in thy hand, and ane brocht to follow my brocht, and
racontyr with in the term of law." Whereupon the said James
Heryng, prolocutor of the said William Talzour, asked in name
and .on behalf of the said William, from the said Judges, the said
judgment to be enrolled in presence of the said Court, pledge and
repledge, with the foresaid processes of the said Court, and all and
sundry these things to be read in open Court before the said Judges
ere the said Court should rise, and asked the said judgment and
the said rollment to be sealed with the seal of office of the said
Judge, and to be delivered to the said William, and offered the
said William to procure, with instance, a seal to be affixed for
closing and sealing of the said judgment, and all and sundry things
which to the declaration of falsing the said doom could belong in
order of law.

This is dry enough reading, and the other paper is not
one whit more enlivening. It is another Notarial
Instrument taken in the same Court on the same day,
at the instance of the said James Heryng, as prolocutor

274 Narratives from Scottish History.

of William Talzour, by which " he asserted and found a
broch in the hand of the Sergeant, or Officer of the
Court, that Master Thomas Murray, alleged procurator
for John Strang, in a certain cause moved between the
said John Strang and the said William, could not be
lawful procurator, nor was the said William Talzour
bound to answer the said Master Thomas in a lawsuit,
nor could the said Master Thomas judicially pursue the
said William, because the said Master Thomas was not
lawfully constituted procurator for prosecuting or pur-
suing the said William, neither was security found for
the said William by the said John Strang, because he
was not constituted procurator but by a certain roll
shewn in Court, and not by any procuratory written
under the proper seal of the said John, nor under a seal
procured, with other points of necessity required for
procuratory." Thus we see that legal formality was as
much imperative and as circumlocutory four centuries
ago as it is now.

Tullibardine, apparently finding reason to deem his
first Charter of Exemption not ample enough, procured
another from the Crown in 1482. The civil jurisdiction
of the Stewartry was now tending to its complete abro-
gation. In 1483, Umfra Moray appeared in the Court,
in presence of Sir William MurefT( Murray), the Steward,
and withdrew his suit — levavit sectam suam de predicta
curia — which was transferred by Crown Charter to the
King's Sheriff Court of Perth. But again there came a
change in the office of Seneschal. Tullibardine was
displaced, and Lord Drummond succeeding him, began
at once to vindicate his jurisdiction in defiance of the
other's Charters. Tullibardine was summoned to the
Skeat Court, upon which he petitioned James IV. to

The Seneschal of Strathearn. 275

discharge the Steward from such ultroneous proceedings.
The petition, we rnay assume, was granted. Ultimately,
the Scottish Parliament gave the last blow to the civil
jurisdiction by ratifying, on 5th February, 1505, "the
creation and making of the baronies of new create and
made within the King's Earldom of Stratherne, within
this three years last bypast, and relaxed the said
baronies and lands annexed to them fra all service aucht
thereof in the Stewart Courts of the King's Earldom of
Stratherne, and will that the said service be paid in the
King's Sheriff Court at Perth, in all times to come."

The last criminal case which was tried in the Sene-
schal or Steward's Court, involving sentence of death,
happened in the summer of 1682, when the office was
held by James Drummond, fourth Earl of Perth, and
afterwards Chancellor of Scotland. It was a case of
alleged child murder by a clergyman of the district. In
1674, Richard Duncan, A.M., was admitted to the
pastoral charge of the parish of Kinkell and Trinity
Gask, he being then about twenty-seven years of age.
During the next seven years of his incumbency he
gradually fell into a course of loose-living : and at the
Diocesan Synod of Dunblane, held on nth October,
1 68 1, the Laird of Machany brought a serious charge
against him, the procedure on which is thus recorded in
the Register of the Synod : —

The said day the Laird of Machanie presented and gave in to the
Bishop [James Ramsay] and Synod ane Supplication subscribed by
himself and most part of the heritors and elders of the parish of
Kinkell and Trinity Gask, against Mr. Richard Duncan, Minister
of the said united churches, representing his gross ignorance in re-
baptizing a child belonging to , and other gross,
rude, and scandalous offences and misdemeanours committed by
him, as the said Supplication at mair length contains.

276 Narratives from Scottish History.

The whilk Supplication the Bishop and Synod taking to their
consideration, did find that the ordinary time appointed .for keeping
the Synod they would hardly get things so decided as the affair re-
quires ; therefore they referred the same Supplication until the 26lh
of this instant, to be considered, and to think of such overtures as
may be for the good of that parish, and to keep union and peace
amongst them, and to hear what further shall be brought in upon
that Supplication, and to consider the same, and Mr. Duncan's
reply to what shall be proposed.

Mr. Richard Duncan, being called in before the Bishop and
Synod, was desired by the Bishop to acknowledge these faults and
his other guiltiness, and to be humbled for them before God and
the present Synod ; but the said Mr. Duncan seemed to be some-
what averse to the same, and so gave little or no satisfaction to the
Bishop and Synod.

The Register (which ends on 3rd April, 1688) contains
no minute of a meeting on 26th October, and no further
notice of this case. But before ist February, 1682, Mr.
Duncan was deposed from the office of the ministry.

Soon a capital crime was laid to the deposed clergy-
man's charge, namely, that lie had murdered an illegiti-
mate child, born to him by his maid-servant (whose
name was probably Catherine Stalker), and buried it
under a hearthstone in his manse, where its remains
were discovered. Having been arrested, he was tried in
June, 1682, before the Steward Court, and being con-
victed, was condemned to the gallows. Lord Fountain-
hall says that the unhappy man " was convicted on very
slender presumptions, which, however they might amount
to degradation and banishment, yet it was thought hard
to extend them to death." The people of the district
are said to have taken much the same view of the sen-
tence. A reprieve was applied for, with the concurrence
of the Steward himself. The reprieve was obtained ; but
there appears to have been such delay as gave rise to the

Tiie SenescJial of StratJiearn. 277

belief that it was not to be granted ; and at length the
culprit was brought out to die on the famous " Kind
gallows of Crieff," which stood near the " Gallowford
Road," and after its removal, its site was marked by a
lime tree.

The execution took place under singular circumstances.
The rope was round the condemned man's neck, when
a messenger on horseback was descried hastening for-
ward by the way of Pitkellony, near Muthill, about two
miles distant. It was not thought that he was a messen-
ger of grace : and the hangman performed his office.
The victim was several minutes dead when the courier
reached the foot of the gibbet, and exhibited the
reprieve !

The Stewartry of Straihearn and all other heritable
jurisdictions in Scotland were abolished by the Act of
1748.*

* Dr. David Malcolm's Genealogical Memoirs of the House of
Drunimond, p. 22 ; Third Report of the Royal Commissioners on
historical Manuscripts (Papers of C. D. Moray, Esq., of Aber-
cairney), p. 416 ; Paper on "the ancient Earldom of Strathearn,"
by W. F. Skene, LL. D., read before the Society of Antiquaries of
Scotland, nth March, 1878: Liber Insula Missarum ; Innes'
Sketches of Early Scotch History, p. 204 ; 77ie Beauties of Upper
Strathearn ; Dr. Scott's Fasti Ecclesia Scoticanice, vol. ii., p. 782 ;
Register of the Diocesan Synod of Dunblane, 1662-1688, pp. 182-
183, 258 ; Riddell's Remarks upon Scotch Peerage Law, pp. 57,
152-

XIV. --Traditionary Stories.

i.

THE LADY OF BOTHWELLHAUGH ; AND
LADY ANNE BOTHWELL.

What sheeted phantom wanders wild,

Where mountain Eske through woodland flows ?

Her arms enfold a shadowy child —
Oh ! is it she, the pallid rose ?

— Sir Walter Scott— " Cadyow Castle.'"

FOR three centuries, a tradition concerning the fate of
the wife of Bothwellhaugh, who assassinated the Regent
Moray, has been generally accepted as a well-authenti-
cated fact in Scottish history ; but we now purpose to
show that it rests upon no stable foundation.

The common story is that James Hamilton of Both-
wellhaugh, a small estate in Lanarkshire, being, like his
kinsmen, an ardent partisan of Mary Queen of Scots,
fought under her banner at Langside, and was made
prisoner and forfeited. The Regent Moray spared his
life and set him at liberty, but gave his wife's lands of
Woodhouselee, in Lothian, to Sir John Bellenden, the
Lord Justice Clerk, some of whose emissaries drove out
the lady from her dwelling there in the most savage
278

Traditionary Stories. 279

manner, causing her to fall into raving madness ; and
this grievous wrong incited her husband to shoot the
Regent in Linlithgow, on 23rd January, 1569-70. So
relates the anonymous author of The Historic and Life
of King fames the Sex/, which, from internal evidence,
would appear to have been written about 1582 — at least,
before the death of Queen Mary.* This narrative has
been circumstantially adopted by Mr. Patrick Eraser
Tytler, in his History. Bellenden, he says, " violently
occupied the house, and barbarously turned its mistress,
during a bitterly cold night, and almost in a state of
nakedness, into the woods, where she was found in the
morning furiously mad, and insensible to the injury
which had been inflicted on her."

The historian's sister, Miss Ann Eraser Tytler, refers
to the tradition, but in a confused way, in the reminis-
cences of her brother which she contributed to the
Memoir by the Rev. John W. Burgon : " The tradition
was, that the Regent Moray had thrust Lady Anne
Bothwell and her child into the woods of Woodhouselee,
where she went mad, and perished miserably." Miss
Tytler here confounds two ladies together — Anne Both-
well not being the name of Bothwellhaugh's wife, but
that of another lady, who, for her misfortunes, had been
commemorated in one of the finest ballads in the Scottish
minstrelsy.

* A lengthy rifacimento of this MS. was published in 1706 by
David Crawford of Drumsoy, Historiographer to Queen Anne,
under the title — Memoirs of the Affairs of Scotland ; but the
original MS., in its integrity, was published by Malcolm Lang, the
historian, in 1804, and at once exposed Drumsoy's untrustworthi-

280 Narratives from Scottish History.

The question — and it is a perplexed one — which we
are now to investigate — is whether the common story of
Lady Bothwellhaugh is true. It is remarkable that
Archbishop Spottiswoode (who was five years old at the
time of the Regent's murder, and afterwards had ample
means of being acquainted with historical facts) gives, in
his History, a different and perhaps more reasonable
version of the Woodhouselee affair. He states that the
faction adverse to the Regent "resolved by some violent
means to cut him off; and to bring the matter to pass,
one James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh did offer his
service. This man had been imprisoned some time, and
being in danger of his life, redeemed the same by mak-
ing over a parcel of land in Lothian, called Woodhouse-
lee, that came to him by his wife, to Sir James [John]
Bellenden, Justice Clerk. How soon he was set at
liberty he sought to be repossessed of his own, and not
seeing a way to recover it (for the Justice Clerk would
not part therewith), he made his quarrel to the Regent,
who was most innocent, and had restored him both to
life and liberty. The great promises made him by the
faction, with his private discontent, did so confirm his
mind, as he ceased not till he found the means to put in
execution the mischief he had conceived against him."
Here, as will be observed, nothing is said about the
lady's alleged ejectment.

But to make the whole subject as clear as we can
(with materials confessedly limited), we must go back a
number of years, and, as it were, " begin at the be-
ginning."

Oliver Sinclair, Laird of Woodhouselee, a favourite of
King James V., was unluckily raised to the command of
the second Scottish army of ten thousand men, mustered

Traditionary Stories. 281

for the invasion of England in 1542. The elevation of
this personage proved so obnoxious to most of the
barons that their open dissatisfaction led to the shameful
rout at Solway Moss, which hastened the death of the
broken-hearted monarch. Oliver Sinclair and his
spouse, Katharine Bellenden, had two daughters, Isa-
bella and Alison Sinclair, who, on the death of their
father, became his co-heiresses in the lands of Wood-
houselee. It is of great importance to know, in this
enquiry, that their mother was sister of Sir John
Bellenden, the Lord Justice Clerk, and widow of Francis
Bothwell, Provost of Edinburgh, by whom she had a
son, Adam Bothwell, who rose to be Commendator of
Holyrood, a Lord of Session, and Bishop of Orkney ;
and he it was who performed the marriage ceremony of
Queen Mary and the Earl of Bothwell. The Bishop
was thus the stepson of Oliver Sinclair, and the nephew
of Justice Clerk Bellenden.

Before coming of age, the eldest sister, Isabella,
appears in a Curatory, entered in the Journal Book of
the Official or Commissary of St. Andrews, of date
1 3th December, 1546, when Lord John Sinclair, Provost
of Roslin, and Master John Bellenden, son and apparent
heir of Master Thomas Ballantyne of Auchinvulle, were
appointed curators ad litem to Isabella Sinclair, daughter
naturalis et legilime (natural and lawful) of Oliver
Sinclair and Katherine Ballantyne, with consent of the
said Oliver Sinclair, her father and lawful administrator.
What the cause or purpose was of this Curatory is not
stated ; but here we have the Justice Clerk as a curator
of his young niece, whom he was afterwards accused of
driving to madness !

The two sisters married two brothers, the sons of

282 Narratives from Scottish History.

David Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh and his spouse
Christian Schaw. Isabella's husband was the eldest
son, James, who inherited the estate, and Alison's
husband was the second, David, called of Monckton
Mains. Both sons were staunch adherents of Queen
Mary, and after the Regent Moray's assassination they
escaped abroad. As co-heiress of Woodhouselee, the
old tower of the domains was held by Isabella, as the
elder sister, and she sometimes resided in it and some-
times at Bothwellhaugh. The late Mr. James Maid-
ment, Advocate, a distinguished antiquary and genealo-
gist, states that when Langside was fought and lost, the
estate of Woodhouselee was made over to the Justice
Clerk, " with a view of protecting the ladies " from the
consequences of their husbands' treason, as it was
called : and " to give a colour " to the Regent's murder,
the assertion was made " that the lady of Bothwellhaugh
had been turned out of her own house in a cold winter
night with an infant child, went mad, and died in the
woods." But the contemporary account does not say
that she had any child with her, or that she died from
the exposure, but only that she, " what for grief of mind
and exceeding cauld that she had then contracted, con-
ceived sic madness as was almost incredible." Certain
it is that she did not die at that time, as will be con-
clusively shown in the sequel.

The Regent's assassin and his brother eluded the
hands of the law, which, however, laid hold of two
persons as being involved in the crime. At Edinburgh,
on 28th February, 1570-71, Christian Schaw, the relict
of the deceased David Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, was
dilated, before the High Court of Justiciary, " of art and
part of the murder of umquhile James Earl Murray,

Traditionary Stories. 283

Lord Abernethy, Regent, etc., by her special causing,
hounding, sending, devising, resetting, command, assist-
ance, ratihabition, etc." There seems to have been no
proof forthcoming against the widow, and therefore the
case was disposed of by continuing it to the Justiciar
of Lanark — Robert Rose of Thornton becoming caution
or surety that she should there appear on premonition
of fifteen days. The second person arraigned was
David Hamilton, " servant to Bothwellhaugh," who, on
29th April, 1572, was convicted, before the Justice-air
Court, of "sundry crimes of treason specially men-
tioned in the Dittay," which, however, is not now
extant. He was sentenced to death and hanged.

No further proceedings regarding the Regent's murder
seem to have been taken until, in 1579, a Summons of
Treason, was raised against the brothers, James and
David ; but as it could not be executed personally upon
them, as they were out of the country, the Officer or
Messenger-at-Arms certified that, not being able to find
them, he summoned them " at their dwelling-places in
Bothwellhaugh, where both their wives and family make
their residence." This he did by delivering " an authen-
tic copy " of the Summons " to ilk ane of their said
wives, who refused to receive the same in their names."
What came of the Summons does not appear ; but the
likelihood is that it would be called in Court and the
brothers declared forfeited.

Another Hamilton, Arthur by name, and styled as
" in Bothwellhaugh," was indicted before the Justiciary
Court, on i5th December, 1580, for being accessory to
the murder of the Regents Moray and Lennox. He
had been imprisoned in Dumbarton Castle, " where," as
he says in a petition to the Privy Council, "I have

284 Narratives from Scottish History.

remained continually sinsyne, having nothing of my
own, but sustained upon the expenses of my friends."
The Court acquitted him, and shortly afterwards he,
then styled " of Bothwellhaugh," was restored to his
estate, etc.

There must have been some transmission of the
Woodhouselee estate by Sir John Bellenden, of which
we fail to find explanation. At Holywoodhouse. on
25th April, 1581, King James VI. confirmed a Charter
by William Sinclair, son and 4heir of the late Edward
Sinclair, of Galwaldmoir, of various lands, including
those of Woodhouselee, with the tower and manor, in
the sheriffdom of Edinburgh, to Sir Lodovico Bellenden
of Auchnoull, Knight, Lord Justice Clerk, dated at
Edinburgh, i4th April, 1581. Sir Lewis was the eldest
son of Sir John, who died about 1577, and succeeded
him in the judicial office, but at last met a singular
death, if we can believe Sir John Scot of Scotstarvet,
who asserts that Sir Lewis, " by curiosity, dealt with a
warlock, called Richard Graham, to raise the devil, who
having raised him in his own yard in the Canongate,
he was thereby so terrified, that he took sickness and
thereof died." Graham was a noted necromancer of his
time, who, as the Wise Wife of Keith declared, " had
wrought meikle mischief," and was burned at the Cross
of Edinburgh, on 28th February, 1591-2.

Almost eleven years after the date of the preceding
charter, a meeting of the Privy Council was held on
1 2th January, 1591-2, when a Declaration was made by
the King and them, " that David Hamilton of Bothwell-
haugh (otherwise designed of Monckton Mains), Issobell
Sinclair and Alesoun Sinclair, heretrices-portioners of
the lands of Woodhouselee, ought and should be re-

Traditionary Stories. 285

possessed to the lands, houses, tacks, steadings, and
possessions, whereof they were dispossessed, through
occasion of the late troubles," in conformity with the
Act of Parliament of loth December, 1585 (Acts of
Parliament, 1585, c. 21, iii. 383), notwithstanding any
provision or exception contained to the contrary — " the
same being procured by sinister information, far by his
Majesty's meaning," and tending '* not only to the
violation of his Highness' general peace," but to his
Majesty's particular favour extended to Claud, Com-
mendator of Paisley, and to his friends, being then in
France, "of the which the said David Hamilton of
Bothwellhaugh was ane of the maist special." Never-
theless, the Bellendens held possession of Woodhouselee
for seventeen years longer ; but probably the co-heiresses
were alimented out of the rents from the beginning of
their troubles. At a meeting of the Privy Council, on
i9th January, 1601, a complaint was made by Sir James
Bellenden of Brouchtoun, eldest son of the deceased Sir
Lewis, that upon the loth inst., David Hamilton,
younger of Bothwellhaugh, accompanied by

, came armed to the pursuer's lands of
Woodhouselee, while they were at their ploughs, and
there compelled them to stop by threatening to have
their lives if they persisted. The defender not appearing,
was denounced rebel.

The two sisters were alive in 1609, when an Act of
Parliament was passed restoring to them the estate of
Woodhouselee, which they were to " brook and enjoy "
peaceably ; and by agreement their claims for by-gone
rents were given up, apparently by reason, as Mr. Maid-
ment suggests, " of the Bellendens having furnished the
owners during their long extrusion with the means of

286 Narratives from Scottish History.

subsistence." He further states that Isabella " lived
subsequently at Woodhouselee for many years, and did
not die until next century " — meaning the seventeenth
century; but as she was born before 1546, and finally
restored in 1609, she must have been a very old woman
if she died " many years " after that latter date.

Our Scottish historian, Dr. Hill Burton, briefly sum-
marises, in a- note, the main facts above stated, and,
of course, utterly discards the story of Lady Bothwell-
haugh's expulsion, madness, and death. " The cradle
of the popular story," he says, " will be found in the
History and Life of King James the Sext, a book in
which the narrative of a tolerably fair contemporary is
mixed up with other matter not to be relied on. ...
Being accepted by Principal Robertson, this story took
its place in legitimate history, and it was naturally com-
pleted by the additional decorations of the new-born
babe and the mother's death."

The old tower or fortalice of Woodhouselee having
gone to ruin, a mansion-house was built on another site,
and was long the chosen seat of learning and genius
under the Tytler family.

In course of time a story got up that the ghost of
Bothwellhaugh's wife haunted the ancient tower, and
that as part of the stones of this edifice were used in
the building of the new house, the apparition transferred
its visitations thither ! Miss Fraser Tytler, in her
reminiscences already referred to, mentions the tradition
" that when the stones of old Woodhouselee were taken
to build the new house, the poor ghost " — she calls it
that of Lady Anne Bothwell — " still clinging to the
domestic hearth, had accompanied these stones : " and
its appearances are next narrated : —

Traditionary Stories. 287

There was one bedroom in the house, which, though of no
extraordinary dimensions, was always called "the big bedroom."
Two sides of the walls of this room were covered with very old
tapestry, representing subjects from Scripture. Near the head of
the bed there was a mysterious-looking small and very old door,
which led into a turret fitted up as a dressing-room. From this
small door the ghost was wont to issue. No servant would enter
" the big bedroom " after dusk, and even in daylight they went in
pairs.

To my aunt's old nurse, who constantly resided in the family,
and with her daughter Betty, the dairy-maid (a rosy-looking
damsel), took charge of the house during the winter, Lady Anne
had frequently appeared. Old Catherine was a singularly-
interesting looking person in appearance ; tall, pale, and thin,
and herself like a gentle spirit from the unseen world. We talked
to her often of Lady Anne. " 'Deed," she said, " I have seen her
times out o' number, but I'm in no ways fear'd ; I ken weel she
canna gang beyond her commission ; but there's that silly, feckless
thing, Betty, she met her in the lang passage ae nicht in the
winter time, and she hadna a drap o' bluid in her face for a fort-
night after. She says Lady Anne came sae near her she could see
her dress quite weel : it was a Manchester muslin with a wee
flower." Oh! how Walter Scott used to laugh at this "wee
flower," and hope that Lady Anne would never change her dress.

For several summers Mrs. Scott and he resided at a pretty
cottage near Lasswade. within a walk of Woodhouselee. We used
frequently to walk down after breakfast and spend the day.

As previously pointed out, this " Lady Anne " was not
Lady Bothwellhaugh at all, but the daughter of Andrew
Bothwell, Bishop of Orkney, who was connected with
the Sinclairs by step-relationship. Lady Anne had for a
lover her cousin, Alexander Erskine, third son of John,
seventh Earl of Mar, and said to have been one of the
handsomest men of his time. But " handsome is that
handsome does." He deceived and deserted her. She
bore a child to him. Mr. Maidment has concluded that,

288 Narratives from Scottish History.

in consequence of this wrong and desertion, " she went
mad, and died with her child in the woods of the parish
of Glencorse, in which Woodhouselee is situated." Her
father, who died in 1593, was spared the pain of her
dishonour; but her brother, who was ennobled in 1607
as Lord Holywodhouse, lacked the spirit to force
Erskine to a reckoning. " The vicinity of Woodhouse-
lee to Glencorse," adds Mr. Maidment, " the similarity
of Bothwell to Bothwellhaugh, the belief in the pretended
miserable death of the heiress of the former estate, and
the real death of the lady's cousin in the same locality,
got, in process of time, to be all so much mixed up to-
gether, that the popular error is not at all surprising."
Dr. Hill Burton seems, however, to regard Mr. Maid-
ment's supposition as to Lady Anne's death with a sort
of dubiety.

The ballad of " Lady Anne Bothwell's Lament,"
makes her tell her infant son not to curse his faithless
father : —

But curse not him : perhaps now he,
Stung with remorse, is blessing thee,
Perhaps at death — for who can tell
Whether the Judge of Heaven or Hell,
By some proud foe has struck the blow,
And laid the dear seducer low.

I wish I were into the bounds

Where he lies smother'd in his wounds,

Repeating, as he pants for air,

My name, whom he once call'd his fair ;

No woman is so fiercely set,

But she'll forgive, though not forget.

Sir Alexander Erskine did indeed lose his life as a
soldier, but not on the field of battle. He served for

Traditionary Stories. 289

some time in the French army, and, on coming back to
Scotland, joined the Covenanting forces in the war
against Charles I., and was made colonel of a regiment.
He was with a party occupying the castle of Dunglass,
iu Berwickshire, not long after his return home, when a
dreadful catastrophe overwhelmed the garrison, which
Sir James Balfour thus records in his Annales of Scot-
land : —

The 30 of August, this year, 1640, being Sunday, the Castle of
Dunglass was blown up, whether by accident or otherwise is not
very certain ; but by all probability, it was done of set purpose :
for the Earl of Haddington's page, an Englishman, Edward Paris
by name, was supposed to be the actor of this mournful tragedy ;
for he had in his custody the keys of the vault where the powder
lay, neither would my Lord, his master, trust any with the key but
him. He perished there amongst the rest, no part of him was ever
found, but an arm, holding an iron spoon in his hand. In this
catastrophe, there perished men of most account : —

Thomas, 2d Earl of Haddington ;

Robert Hamilton, his brother ;

Mr. Patrick Hamilton, his base [illegitimate] brother ;

Co!. Alex. Erskine, 2d son to John, 2d Earl of Mar, late Lord

Treasurer of Scotland ;
Sir John Hamilton of Readhouse ;
James Inglis, of Inglistoun ;
John Coupar, of Gogar ;
Sir Alexander Hamilton, of Innerwick ;
Alexander Hamilton, his son ;
John Gattes, Minister of Bunckell ;
Lieutenant John Stirling ;
George Waughe ;
David Pringle, Chirurgeon ;

and above 54 common servants, men and women ; there were
about 30 gentlemen, and others which were grievously wounded,
most of which recovered.

290 Narratives from Scottish History.

One thing wonderful happened, before this miserable accident,
which was, that about eight of the clock, on the Thursday at night
before the blowing up of the House of Dunglass, there appeared a
very great pillar of fire to arise from the north-east of Dunbar, as
appeared to them in Fife, who did behold it, and so ascended
towards the south, until it approached the vertical point of our
hemisphere, yielding light as the moon in her full, and by little
evanishing until it became like a parallax, and so quite evanished
about n of the clock in the night.

Thus perished the heartless deceiver ; and " it was
the general sentiment of the time," says Dr. Robert
Chambers, in a note on the ballad, " and long a tradi-
tionary notion in his family, that he came to this dread-
ful end, on account of his treatment of the unhappy
lady who indites the Lament ; she having probably died
before that time of a broken heart." *

* Authorities — The Historic and Life of King James the Sext,
PP- 74-7SJ Tytler's History of Scotland : 1864, vol. Hi., p. 319;
Archbishop Spottiswoode's History of the Church of Scotland
(Spottiswoode Society), vol. ii., p. 119; Hill Burton's History of
Scotland, 2nd Ed., vol. v., pp. 12-15 5 Sir Walter Scott's Ballad of
Cadyow Castle, and introduction : Maidment's Scottish Ballads and
Songs, vol. ii., pp. 38-44, 324-333, and his Collectanea Genealogica
(privately printed, 1883), pp. 84-85, 170 ; Pitcairn's Criminal
Trials in Scotland, vol. i., Part Second (Bothwellhaugh), pp. 23,
31, 87-88, 266 ; (Richard Graham), 235, 241, 243, 245, 249, 358 ;
Register of the Gi eat Seal of Scotland : 1580-1593, No. 172; Scot-
starvet's Staggering- State of the Scots Statesmen: 1754, pp. 129-
131 ; Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, vol. iv., p. 711,
vol. vi., p. 211 ; Bishop Keith's Catalogue of Scottish Bishops:
I755> P- J35 ; Chambers's Scottish Ballads, pp. 118-119; Burgon's
Memoir of Patrick Fraser Tytler, 2nd Ed., pp. 30-31 ; Sir James
Balfour's Annales of Scotland, vol. ii., pp. 396-397.

Traditionary Stories. 291

II.
THE COUNTESS OF CASSILLIS.

The Gypsies cam* to our gude lord's yett,

And O but they sang sweetly ;
They sang sae sweet, and sae very complete,

That doon cam' the fair lady.

— Ballad of ' ' Johnnie Faa. "

THE tradition of the elopement of the Countess of
Cassillis with Johnnie Faa, the Gipsy, is well known ;
but in presently dealing with it to ascertain its truth or
its falsity, a summary of the incidents, collected from
different sources, is necessary to begin with.

Lady Jean Hamilton, daughter of Thomas, first Earl
of Haddington — the *' Tarn o' the Cowgate " of King
James VI. — was born on 8th February, 1607. Possessed
of great personal beauty, she, in her early youth, won
the affections of a Sir John Faa or Faw of Dunbar.
Near to that town was her father's estate of Tyningham,
which, says Mr. Maidment, "with its fine woods and
beautiful walks, was a tempting place for young folks to
meet in." But in this case, as in so many others before
and since, the course of true love did not run smooth.
A rival to Faa appeared in the person of John, sixth
Earl of Cassillis, whom Lady Jean's worldly-wise father
preferred, although she herself continued constant to her
first lover, who, hoping with her that time would remove
the obstacle to their union, went abroad. After two
years, news came that he had been assassinated in
Madrid. The suit of Cassillis was now pressed, and the

292 Narratives from Scottish History.

lady having succumbed to her father's wishes, gave her
hand in wedlock to the Earl. Her residence became
Colzean Castle, amid the romantic beauties of the
" banks and braes o' bonnie Boon," and there she bore
two daughters, but no son.

When the troubles with Charles I. arose, Cassillis, an
austere character, proved himself a stern and inflexible
Covenanter ; and the same side was taken by his
brother-in-law, the second Lord Haddington, who was
killed by the explosion at Dunglass, in August, 1640.
The English Parliament, on i2th June, 1643, called an
Assembly of Divines to meet " at Westminster, in the
Chapel called King Henry's Chapel, on the first day of
July, in the year of our Lord, 1643 . . . to consider
and treat among themselves of such matters and things,
touching and concerning the liturgy, discipline, and
government of the Church of England," etc. To this
convocation the General Assembly of the Scottish
Church sent eight Commissioners, of whom five were
ministers, and three elders, John, Earl of Cassillis ;
John, Lord Maitland ; and Sir Archibald Johnston of
Warriston ; all of whom repaired to London.

At this juncture, Sir John Faa came back to Dunbar
safe and sound, and as much attached to his lost love
as ever. Taking advantage of his successful rival's
absence, he suddenly appeared one day at the gate of
Colzean Castle, attired as a gipsy, and with a band of
fifteen gipsies, or followers disguised as such. Obtaining
an interview with the Countess, he persuaded her to
elope with him. She seems to have shewn no scruples,
and off they set. But they had not gone far —

Among the bonnie winding banks
Where Boon rins, wimpling clear,

Traditionary Stories. 293

when a fatal fortune befel them. No sooner had they
left the Castle behind them, than the Earl un-
expectedly arrived there, and mustering his retainers,
gave hot pursuit. The fugitives were overtaken as
they were crossing a ford of the Doon, afterwards
called the " Gipsies' Steps," and were all taken
prisoners, and brought back to the Castle. The
Earl hung Sir John and fourteen of his company on the
boughs of the " Dule Tree," a large plane, and confined
the erring lady in a chamber, still designated as " the
Countess' Room," from a window of which she was com-
pelled to witness the ghastly death-scene. The Earl
subsequently divorced her a mensa et thore, and removed
her to an old family tower at Maybole, wherein she
spent the rest of her days in seclusion, employing her
time in working tapestry, on which was pourtrayed her
flight with the gipsies : whilst eight heads were sculp-
tured under a turret to represent as many of the victims
of the " Uule Tree."

Such is what we have put together as the traditionary
account of this strange episode ; for which episode,
however, there is no authentic record, or even any
authority except the Ballad said to have been composed
by the solitary survivor of the gipsy band, and which
appears to have been first printed in the fourth volume
of Allan Ramsay's Tea-Table Miscellany, published
about 1733. What is remarkable, this early, and pro-
bably original, version has no mention of Cassillis,
which name only occurs in one or two subsequent ver-
sions. Motherwell's copy, inserted in his Minstrelsy,
Ancient and Modern, calls the hero " Gypsie Davie,"
and the heroine " Jeanie Faw ;" and we may note that

294 Narratives from Scottisk History.

Jean was the Countess' Christian name. But Davie and
his gang are characterised by Jeanie as

" A wheen blackguards waiting on me : "
and such they seem to have been ; for

They drank her cloak, so did they her gown,
They drank her stockings and her shoon,

And they drank the coat that was neist to her smock,
And they pawned her pearled apron.

The number of the band is here increased to sixteen, all
of whom were doomed to death : —

They were sixteen clever men,

Suppose they were nae bonnie ;
They are to be a' hanged on ae day,

For the stealing o' Earl Cassillis' lady.

Sir John Faw of Dunbar, whom the Balladists had
never heard of, is a recent invention. We might as well
believe that a gang of common gipsies induced the
Countess to accompany them by casting " the glamour
ower her," as that on Hallowe'en, the

Fairies light

On Cassillis Downans dance,
Or owre the lays, in splendid blaze,

On sprightly coursers prance ;
Or for Colean the route is ta'en,

Beneath the moon's pale beams ;
There up the cove to stray and rove,

Amang the rocks and streams
To sport that night.

Some stronger inducement than "the glamour" was
needful, if the story was to bear any feasibility at all,

Traditionary Stories. 295

and therefore Sir John was created, as a former suitor ;
while the execution of a gipsy chief, named " Captain
John Faa," and seven of his kin, at Edinburgh, in
January, 1624, was adduced, as having connection with
the Cassillis tradition. Let us see how the authentic
dates stand. Lady Jean was born in February, 1607,
and wedded the Earl in 1621, when she was only in her
fourteenth or fifteenth year : so that there was scarcely
time for a serious attachment to Faa before Cassillis
came forward as her suitor. Faa, it is said, was more
than two years abroad before the marriage, and when he
came back and eloped with the Countess, she must have
been the mother of the two daughters, as the partial
divorce immediately followed. Credo Judaus I More-
over, Captain John Faa and his seven kinsmen, who
suffered at Edinburgh, in 1624, were not sentenced for
an abduction, or for any crime whatever, committed at
Colzean Castle ; but as being " vagabonds, sorners,
common thieves, known, reputed, and holden as
Egyptians." At the same time, " Helen Faa, relict of
the deceased John Faa," and eleven other gipsy women,
were condemned to be drowned ; but their sentence was
commuted to banishment. The Scottish law, at that
period, was carried out with great severity against the
gipsy tribe, with the object apparently of driving them
by terror out of the country.

The plain fact is, the Countess died at Colzean, in
December, 1642, being then in the thirty-sixth year of
her age : and this was six months before the West-
minster Assembly of Divines was called. The Earl
wrote the following two letters to friends, one con-
cerning and the other announcing her demise : —

296 Narratives from Scottish History.
i.

To the Right Reverend Mr. Robert Douglas,

Minister at Edinburgh.
RIGHT REVEREND,

I find it so hard to digest the want of a dear friend,
such as my beloved yoke-fellow was, that I think it will much
affect the heart of her sister, my Lady Carnegie, who hath been
both a sister and a mother to her, after their mother's removal. I
thought your hand, as having relation to both, fit for presenting
such a potion, seeing you can prepare her beforehand, if as yet it
have not come to her ears ; and howsoever it be, your help in com-
forting may be very useful to her. My loss is great, but to the
judgment of us who saw the comfortable close of her days, she has
made a glorious and happy change, manifesting in her speeches
both a full submission to the only absolute Sovereign, and a sweet
sense of His presence in mercy, applying to herself many comfort-
able passages of God's word, and closing with those last words,
when I asked what she was doing ; her answer was, she was
longing to go home. It seems the Lord has been preparing her
these many weeks past, for she has been sickly four or five weeks,
and the means which had helped others in her estate, and were
thought in likelihood infallible, could not be used ; I mean drawing
of blood ; for tho' the surgeon tried it, he could never hit on the

vein. I am, your most affectionate friend,

CASSILLIS.
Cassillis, I4th Dec., 1642.

II.

To Alexander, sixth Earl of Eglinton.
MY NOBLE LORD,

It hath pleased the Almighty to call my dear bed-
fellow from this valley of tears to her home (as herself in her last
words called it). There remains now the last duty to be done to
that part of her left with us, which I intend to perform upon the
fifth of January next. This I entreat may be honoured with your
lordship's presence here at Cassillis on that day, at ten in the
morning, and from this to our burial place at Maybole, which shall
be taken as a mark of your lordship's affection to your lordship's

humble servant,

CASSILLIS.
Cassillis, the I5th December, 1642.

Traditionary Stories. 297

Lord Eglinton writes, in answer, that he could not
attend the funeral, as the day fixed was appointed for a
meeting of the " Committee of the Conservators of
Peace," at which he must be present. He says : —

I am sorrowful from my heart for your lordship's great loss and
heavy visitation, and regret much that I cannot have the liberty
from my Lord Chancellor to come and do that last duty and
respect I am tied to. ... It is a very great grief to me to be
absent from you. I will earnestly entreat your lordship to take all
things Christianly. ... I pray God to comfort you with His
wisdom and resolution to be content with that which comes from
His hand.

The terms of the noble widower's two letters wholly
refute the sinister supposition that any jar occurred in
the conjugal relations of him and his lady. The letters
were written to notable persons who must Have known
whether the Countess had broken her marriage vow and
lived a life of enforced seclusion in the old tower, on
which eight heads of gipsies were sculptured for the
express purpose of perpetuating the public disgrace of
herself and her husband ! Her only immurement was
when her body was laid in the family burial-place at
Maybole.

The Tenth Report of the Royal Commission on His-
torical Manuscripts, in which the second letter is printed,
says that the story of the Countess and the gipsies " is
proved to be false, and the aspersions cast on the lady's
character shown to be wholly undeserved, by this letter
now reported on, in which her husband speaks of her
with affection after twenty-one years of married life, and
which, moreover, is written before the Earl's departure
for Westminster in 1643.'' The like opinion of the
story was previously expressed by Professor Aytoun, in

298 Narratives from Scottish History.

his Ballads of Scotland : — "Tradition has so very often,
after minute investigation, been proved to be a true
expositor, that I always hesitate to discard it ; but, in
this instance, I am deliberately of opinion that it ought
not to be received. ... I am therefore inclined to
believe that the story has no real foundation : " and
some recent collectors of the Scottish ballads coincide
with him as to its falsity.

That eminent antiquary, Mr. Charles Kirkpatrick
Sharpe, the Horace Walpole of Scotland, contributed an
article on this vcxata quastio to the Edinburgh Magazine
of November, 1817, illustrated by a portrait, at Colzean
Castle, said to be of the Countess Cassillis, and which is
acknowledged to be such. But another portrait in the
Duke of Hamilton's apartments at Holyrood, also said
to be of the Countess, Mr. Sharpe considered as
" evidently a picture of Dorothea, Countess of Sunder-
land, copied from Vandyke," which lady was the " Sacc-
harissa " of the poet Waller. Mr. Sharpe speaks of the
tapestry in which Lady Cassillis is said to have " repre-
sented her unhappy flight, but with circumstances un-
suitable to the details of the ballad, and as if the deceits
of Glamour had still bewildered her memory ; for she is
mounted behind her lover, gorgeously attired, on a
superb white courser, and surrounded by a group of
persons who bear no resemblance to a herd of tatter-
demalion gypsies." In one of the " Additional Notes
and Illustrations " appended to an issue of Stenhouse's
Illustrations of the Lyric Poetry and Music of Scotland,
in 1853, Mr. Sharpe returns to the tapestry: "I
suspect," he says, " from what I have heard, that it is
only a fragment of old tapestry, representing a man and
a woman riding on a white horse, amid a group of

Traditionary Stories. 299

attendants, and re-baptized by housekeepers, who have
heard the old tradition." But, as far as our knowledge
goes, nobody has yet suggested that the tapestry pro-
bably represents the home-coming to Colzean Castle of
Lord Cassillis with his bride, after their nuptials in 1621,
which would account for the lady being " gorgeously
attired."

One of the two daughters of Lady Cassillis was
married to William, Lord Cochrane, son and heir of the
Earl of Dundonald ; and the other, in advanced years,
became the wife of Bishop Burnet. It has been sur-
mised that, to ridicule the Prelate by defaming the
mother of his spouse, the soi-disant " tradition " was
concocted and the old ballad written. The Earl of
Cassillis wedded, as his second wife, Lady Margaret
Hay, daughter of William, Earl of Errol, and widow of
Lord Ker, who brought him a son and heir.

There are several versions of the old ballad ; but the
only modern one on the subject, which we have seen, is
contained in Lays and Lyrics^ by Charles Gray, Captain,
Royal Marines, Edinburgh, 1841 ; and we now quote it
by way of conclusion —

LADY CASSILIS' LAMENT.

Air— The Gipsy Laddie.

O ! woe betide thee, Johriy Faa,

Thy looks and words enticing ;
Freedom and fame I've lost, and a'

Through thee, and thy advising.
O let not woman after me

Forsake the path of duty ;
O let not woman after me

Exult in youth and beauty !

3OO Narratives from Scottish History.

My een, that ance were bonnie blue,

Love's softest glances flinging,
Are dimm'd, alas ! by sorrow's dew,

From misery's fountain springing :
My hair, that ance was lang and sleek,

Wi' grief is fast decaying ;
And tears find channels down that cheek

Where rosy smiles were playing.

Now Spring has flung o'er field and bower

The garment of her gladness ;
While here I sit in prison tower,

In mair than Winter's sadness :
The wild birds flit frae tree to tree—

The grove's wi' music ringing ;
O I was ance as blythe and free

As ony bird that's singing.

But now less free than bird of song

That gilded wires environ ;
My cage a gloomy prison strong,

Wi' bolts and bars of iron : —
O let not woman after me

Exult in youth and beauty ;
O let not woman after me

Forsake the path of duty !

Authorities — The Edinburgh Magazine, vol. i., p. 306 ; Cham-
bers's Picture of 'Scotland ', vol. i., p. 290 ; New Statistical Account
of Ayrshire, p. 497 ; Stenhouse's Illustrations: 1853, pp. 217-219;
Simson's History of the Gipsies, p. 239; Tenth Report on Historical
Manuscripts, pp. 5 (Report), 5, 51 (Eglinton Papers) ; Chambers's
Scottish Ballads, p. 127; Motherwell's Minstrelsy, p. 360; Aytoun's
Ballads of Scotland, vol. i., p. 183 ; Maidment's Scottish Ballads
and Songs, vol. ii., p. 179 ; Roberts' Legendary Ballads of England
and Scotland, p. 511 ; The Ballad Minstrelsy of Scotland: 1893,
p. 616 ; Captain Gray's Lays and Lyrics, pp. 106, 242.

Traditionary Stories. 301

III.
NICNIVEN, THE WITCH OF MONZIE.

All agree, that if there ever lived

A veritable witch beneath the sun,

Who ought to die unpitied and unshrived,
Old Catharine M'Niven must be one.

— Rev. George Blair—" The Holocaust."

IN some year, not long before the Rebellion of 1715,
there is said to have been a famous witch done to death
in Western Perthshire. In her case, as it is told,
Tradition is our only guide, and the story runs thus :
Sometime in the latter half of the seventeenth century,
one of the servants in the family of the Groemes of Inch-
breakie, in Upper Strathearn, was a female named Kate
M'Niven, who was nurse to the Laird's young son,
Patrick, afterwards called, from his complexion, " Black
Pate." No kindness or affection, however, subsisted
between Kate and her foster-child. Already she had
become a member of the weird sisterhood, and by her
black art was impressed with the presentiment that the
boy was destined to bring her to a death of shame.
Brooding over this gloomy prospect, she at length
resolved to thwart destiny by destroying her charge, and
once and again did she essay to cut him off by poison ;
but each attempt misgave. That her guilty practising
was suspected, does not appear. Still, there seems to
have arisen an evil feeling against her in her foster-son's
breast, and it strengthened until ultimately it impelled
him to hurry her to the stake.

3O2 Narratives from Scottish History.

When relieved of her duties in the house of Inch-
breakie, Kate returned to her old home in the Kirkton
of Monzie, a village romantically situated on the banks
of the Shaggy and the Kelty, and environed with
scenery in which the mountainous majesty of the High-
lands blends with the softer beauties of the low country.
Kate's cottage stood near the Shaggy, and there she
dwelt by herself, acquiring an " uncanny " reputation,
and frequently visiting Inchbreakie, where she was
always kindly received by the Laird. It would seem,
however, that the spirit of mischief, so congenial to a
witch, actuated her to play tricks upon her unsuspecting
benefactor. On one occasion, the Laird went to
Dunning to some festivity, and, according to the fashion
of the time, took his knife and fork in his pocket.
After he was seated at the dinner table, he was subjected
to an annoyance similar to that which teased Uncle
Toby — namely, the hovering of a bee about his head.
To relieve himself from the tiny tormentor, he laid down
his knife and fork, and attempted to beat off the insect
with his hands. It soon flew out of the window ; but
behold ! the Laird's knife and fork had disappeared !
They were searched for, all over the table, and under the
table : nowhere could they be found ; but when their
owner reached home, and recounted his mysterious loss,
the nurse, who was present, straightway went and pro-
duced both articles, safe and sound, from their accus-
tomed repository. It was shrewdly whispered that
Kate had personated the bee !

Inchbreakie himself probably laughed at such a
suspicion; but the secret and bitter hatred which his
son cherished against the nurse was not to be appeased,
and it found deadly vent at last. Evidence of her

Traditionary Stories. 303

sorceries was collected or suborned, and her youthful
enemy was on the eve of publicly denouncing her as a
witch, when Kate's soul was darkened by a revelation
that her end was near. One day an aged thorn tree
at Dunning, which she believed to be associated, in
some mystic way, with her fate, was felled to the
ground, and before the news of its downfall could
possibly have reached her ears, she suddenly started
up, ejaculating — " Alas ! the thorn's felled, and I'm
undone ! " This prophetical exclamation was soon
verified. Through the machinations of young Groeme,
she was apprehended and brought to trial on a charge of
withcraft ; and her guilt being conclusively estab-
lished, doom of death was pronounced against her.
It is said that Inchbreakie interested himself energeti-
cally in his old dependent's behalf; but his intercession
was ineffectual. Everybody else was prejudiced against
Kate ; and even the Minister of Monzie, Mr. Archibald
Bouie (who held the incumbency of that parish from
1710 till his death in 1740), proved her bitter enemy.

The stake was pitched and the faggots piled on the
summit of the Knock of Crieff, and thither was the
sorceress dragged to suffer, in presence of an immense
multitude gathered from all the surrounding country.
When she was chained to the post, she perceived Inch-
breakie among the crowd, and knowing well how he
had stood her friend, she called to him to approach.
He did so at the word ; and as he came, she bent down
her head, and bit off with her teeth a large blue bead
from the front of the necklace which she wore, and
spitting it towards him, told him to keep it for her sake
— because that if the talisman was treasured, the family
of Inchbreakie should never lack a lineal heir or lose the

304 Narratives from Scottish History.

ancestral property, and also that at some time thence
there would come out of the King's Crag what would
do them good. Having thus taken farewell of the
Laird, she vented various maledictions on those who had
wrought her condemnation. Her wrath against Monzie
and its minister was extreme : she declared that a
minister of Monzie should never prosper, and that the
parish should never want a mad woman or a sot. The
place on the Knock where she died is still known as
" Kate M'Niven's Crag."

Her last gift to Inchbreakie has been set in a gold
ring, and is still preserved as a family heirloom. In a
communication by Miss I. Groeme to the Rev. Hugh M.
Jamieson, minister of Monzie, dated 25th November,
1895, and inserted by him in his sketch of the parish in
Chronicles of Strathearn, the relic is thus described : —

My grandfather had the ring carefully kept in a casket, and his
own daughter was not allowed to touch it— only the daughter-in-
law. On my mother presenting my grandfather with his first
grandson, he bade her slip it on her finger, as the mother of an heir.
. . . The ring is still retained among the family papers — such,
at least, as were left after the burning of the castle by Cromwell.
It is a moonstone sapphire, set in two brilliants of different shape.
There is a curious bluish enamel on part of the gold, which is em-
bossed half way round. There is also a charm, which is said to
have belonged to Kate M'Niven. It is a slight iron chain with a
black heart, having two cross-bones in gold on the back, bearing
the words "Cruelle Death" on it, and attached to it a death's-
head in the shape of a serpent's head with curious enamel.

Miss Gfceme states, in addition, that her grandfather
told her mother the story of the witch only " on one
occasion," which says very little for the veracity of it.

The prophecy about the King's Crag is said to have
been thus fulfilled : — At some subsequent period, " the

Traditionary Stories. 305

lands of Inchbreakie had been pledged in wadset — the
day was close at hand, when either the money was to be
pnid or the lands to be lost — the Laird was in ex-
tremities— a friend advised him to apply to the B;mk of
Strathearn (meaning the Balgowan family, which was
called so at that time) — he did apply and obtained the
money — the servant who received it to carry home,
thrust it into a cloak-bag, and placed it on his horse in
one of the Balgowan stables — the low stable-door would
hardly permit the horse and bag to get out ; but the ser-
vant pushed the latter through, exclaiming when he had
done so, that the witch's prophecy was now fulfilled, for
the stable was built out of the King's Crag."

We have now related the traditionary account ; but,
in the absence of the slightest scrap of record of any
kind in its support, there is good ground for the pre-
sumption that it is erroneous as to the era of the witch
and the place of her incremation.

Turning to The Historic and Life of King James the
Sext^ we find that in May, 1569, the Regent Moray made
a progress to Stirling, where he held a Court, at which'
" four priests of Dunblane were condemned to the death
for saying of mass," but afterwards they were granted
their lives. From Stirling, the Regent "passed to St.
Andrews, where a notable sorceress called Nicniven was
condemned to the death and brunt.''

This culprit was an old woman, with the weight of a
hundred years upon her head, and seems to have
practised chiefly as a " white witch," dispensing cures
for the sick. She was examined before the Regent,
John Knox, and other ministers, when she pled that th«
accusation against her proceeded from the envy of the
apothecaries whom she excelled in the knowledge of

306 Narratives from Scottish History.

medicaments. Particulars of her case are given in a
letter, dated, at St. Andrews, loth May, 1569, from Sir
John Mure of Caldwell to the Earl of Eglinton, preserved
among the Eglinton papers. " As to novels," writes
Caldwell, " I have no other but as I have written, except
Niknevin tholes an assize this Tuesday ; it is thought
she shall suffer the death ; some others believe not. If
she dies, it is feared she do cummer and cause many
others to incur danger ; but as yet for no examination
my Lord Regent nor the ministers can make she will
confess no witchcraft nor guilt, nor others, but says to
my Lord Regent and the examiners that it is nought
that has caused her to be taken but the Pottingars
(Apothecaries) ; and that for envy, by reason she was
the help of them that was under infirmity ; and speaks
the most crafty speaking as is possible to ane woman to
be so far past in years who is ane hundred years."

John Biughe, of Fossaway parish, was brought before
the Justiciary Court, on 24th November, 1643, charged
with sorcery and warlockry. He was said to have been
the devil's servant for the long space of six and thirty
years, and had cured many people and cattle of diseases.
" He was also in the use of taking up dead bodies, and
employing the flesh for enchantments." He had obtained
his curative knowledge " from a widow, named Neane
Nikelcrith [Neane, or Neyn, being, in Gaelic, the female
form of Mac\, of threescore years of age, who was sister-
dochter to Nike Nfuting, that notorious infamous witch
in Monyie, who for her sorcery and witchcraft, was burnt
fourscore of year since, or thereby." Here, for the first
time, Nicniven is said to be of " Monyie '' ; but is this
the Monzie of Strathearn, or the Moonzie of Fife, within
the Regality of St. Andrews ?

Traditionary Stories. 307

It may be noticed that Nicniven or M* Niven was the
name popularly given to the mysterious Gyre Carline,
the Fairy Queen, or the Mother Witch of Scottish super-
stition. In Nithsdale and Galloway, mothers used fre-
quently to " frighten their children by threatening to
give them to M'Niven or the Gyre Car line. She is
described as wearing a long gray mantle, and canying a
wand, which, like the miraculous rod of Moses, could
convert water into rocks, and seas into solid land."
Some of our old poets allude to her. A burlesque frag-
ment in the Bannatyne MS. says that she "lived upon
Christian men's flesh," and was "married with Mahomet,"
and was the " Queen of Jowis," or Jews. In the My ting
of Montgomery and Polwart, we also read of

Nicniven, with her nymphs in number anew,
With charms from Caithness and Chanrie of Ross,
Whose cunning consists in casting a clew.

But, altogether, as Sir Walter Scott says, " the tradi-
tionary accounts regarding her are too obscure to admit
of explanation," and further, that " her name was be-
stowed, in one or two instances, upon sorceresses, who
were held to resemble her by their superior skill."

In the year 1683, a young girl, ten years of age, the
daughter of a husbandman, named Donald Macgregor,
in Monzie, had been subjected to the evil powers of
witchcraft, but afterwards saw visions of angels and heard
their voices, and gave oracular responses to questions,
like a Delphic priestess on the tripod, until she recovered
from all such illusions. Mr. Charles K. Sharpe, in his
elaborate introduction to Law's Memorialls, is of opinion
that "long before this affair there must have been a very
celebrated witch in that neighbourhood," and refers to
what Montgomery, in his Flyting^ says of Polwarth's

308 Narratives from Scottish History.

birth and infancy — how the Weird Sisters found him,
" waur faced nor a cat," lying in a bush, and carried
him off:

Syne backward on horseback bravely they bendit,

That cam-nosed (flat-nosed) cockatrice they quite with them carry,

To Kait of Crieffvn. a creel soon they gar send it,

Where seven year it sat baith singed and sairie (puny, silly,

shrivelled).

The kin of it by the cry incontinent kenn'd it,
Syne fetch food for to feed it from the Faerie.

But, with all submission, we must say that " Kait of
Crieff" means neither witch nor warlock, but evidently
the Stayt or Skait, where the Stewartry Courts were
held.

The lands of Inchbreakie, after being held successively
by three Lairds of the Mercer family, were sold, on 4th
December, 1501, to William, Lord Grahame, who, on
2oth January following, obtained a Royal Charter of
Confirmation thereto.

Finally, young Inchbreakie could not have been
instrumental in bringing his old nurse to the stake at
the period specified in the tradition, because he was a
fugitive from Scotland, from 1695 to 1720, on account
of his murder of the Master of Rollo.*

* Authorities — New Statistical Account of Perthshire, p. 269 ;
The Holocaust ; or, The Witch of Monzie : A Poem. By the Rev.
George Blair ; Beauties of Upper Strathearn : Third Edition, p.
141 ; Chtonicles of Strathearn, pp. 335-337 ; Historic and Life of
King James "the Sext, pp. 65-66 ; Tenth Report on Historical
Manuscripts : Eglinton Papers, pp. 5, 42 ; Dalyell's Darker Super-
stitions of Scotland, pp. 185, 233 ; The Spottiswoode Miscellany t
vol. ii., p. 66 ; Charles K. Sharpe's Historical Account of Witch-
craft in Scotland (Reprint of Introduction to Law's Memorialls :
1884), pp. 51, 112, 158-159.

Traditionary Stories. 309

The Monzie Kirk Session Records begin in 1691, and are
brought down to the present time, with the exception of a blank of
five years between 1706 and 1711 ; but the portions remaining con-
tain no reference at all to Kate M'Niven.

The author of the sketch of Monzie in Chronicles of Strathearn,
speaks of "the traditionary story as related by Dr. Marshall," in
Historic Scenes in Perthshire, pp. 301-302, a very interesting work ;
but his relation is avowedly quoted in full from that which the
present writer contributed to "a local newspaper " in 1878.

IV.
THE TREASURE-SEEKERS.

A half-sunk boulder on the Mount is called

" The Siller Stone." In popular legend, lies

A hoard of gold beneath it. Daring men

Have tried to dig it out ; but aye a storm

Of lightning red, and thunder black with wrath,

Bursts, scares, and drives them from the unfinished work.

— Thomas Aird's "Frank Sylvan."

DURING the troublous times of yore, the practice of con-
cealing money and valuables in the earth was common
in this country as elsewhere. Both the miser and the
robber were peculiarly addicted to this mode of secreting
the darling hoard and the blood-won spoil. This was
what Achan did with what he appropriated as plunder
from Jericho. " When I saw among the spoils a goodly
Babylonish garment, and 200 shekels of silver, and a
wedge of gold of 50 shekels weight, then I coveted them,
and took them ; and behold, they are hid in the earth
in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it."

3 i o Narratives from Scottish History.

Numerous possessors of such deposits, driven into exile,
or cut off suddenly, gave no sign whereby their wealth
could be traced, so that to chance alone was left the
discovery. It must also be taken into account that
ancient graves and tumuli — Roman, Celtic, and Saxon —
generally contained coins and ornaments of gold, the
casual finding of which helped to magnify the popular
notions about the vast amount of hidden treasure.
Mediaeval romance, founding on classic fable and
Oriental story, told of dragons and griffins, fairies,
dwarfs, ghosts, and demons, keeping watch and ward
over caverned gold and jewels. Nor did fraudulent
imposture fail to operate on the cupidity of rich men
who would fain become richer. Necromantic professors
undertook to work wonders in recovering buried wealth
by incantations ; but primarily they demanded hand-
some fees before they would lift a finger. Much
imposition was practised in this manner, by adepts high
and low. The German Libor Vagatorum, the Book of
Vagabonds and Beggars, which was edited by Martin
Luther in 1528, describes the class of cheats " who pre-
tend they can dig or search for hidden treasures, and
when they find some one who allows himself to be per-
suaded, they say they must have gold and silver, and
must have many masses celebrated to the same end, et
cetera, with many more words added. Thereby they
deceive the nobility, the clergy, and also the laity, for it
has not yet been heard that such villians have found
these valuables. But they have cheated people enough.
They are called Sefil-diggers" Sometimes the adepts
themselves buried sums to decoy the fools who trusted
in them ; and a curious proof of the prevalence of this
trick among the Dousterswivel fraternity appears from

Traditionary Stories. 3 1 1

such an incident being adopted into the Life of Virgilius
— or Virgil the poet transformed by ignorant legend-
mongers into an enchanter — the first English version of
which was printed in 1508. The story goes that
Virgilius placed in the " capitolium " of Rome certain
carved images which he called Salvatio Roma, because
he had invested them with the magic virtue of indicating
by their motions the city or country in which a revolt
happened to break out against the Roman authority.
This wonder having come to the knowledge of the
Carthaginians, these inveterate enemies of Rome re-
solved on the destruction of the " idols," and to effect
this purpose they had recourse to a money-digging
stratagem, which must have been common in the age
when the romance was written.

Then thought they in their mind to send three men out, and
gave them great multitude of gold and silver ; and these three men
took their leave of the lords, and went towards the city of Rome,
and when they were come to Rome, they reported themselves
soothsayers and true dreamers. Upon a time went these three
men to a hill that was within the city, and there they buried a
great pot of money very deep in the earth, and when that was done
and covered again, they went to the bridge of Tiber, and let fall in
a certain place a great barrel with golden pence. And when this
was done, those three men went to the senators of Rome and said,
" Worshipful lords, we have this night dreamed that within the
foot of a hill here within Rome is a great pot with money ; will ye,
lords, grant it to us, and we shall do the cost to seek thereafter."
And the lords consented ; and they took labourers, and delved the
money out of the earth. And when it was done they went another
time to the lords, and said, " Worshipful lords, we have also
dreamed that in a certain place of Tiber lieth a barrel full of golden
pence. If you will grant to us that, we shall go seek it." And
the lords of Rome, thinking no deceit, granted to those sooth-
sayers, and bade them to do what they should to do their best.
And then the sooth-sayers were glad, and hired ships and men,

312 Narratives from Scottish History.

and went towards the place where it was, and when they were
come there they sought in every place there about, and at the last
found the barrel full of golden pence, whereof they were right glad.
And then they gave to the lords costly gifts. And then, to come
to their purpose, they came to the lords again, and said to them,
"Worshipful lords, we have dreamed again that under the founda-
tion of the capitolium, there where salvatio Romce standeth, be
twelve barrels full of gold ; and pleaseth you, lords, that you would
grant us license, it shall be to your great advantage." And the lords,
stirred with covetousness, granted them, because two times afore
they told true ; whereof they were glad, and got labourers, and
began to dig under the foundation of salvatio Roma ; and when
they thought they had digged enough, they departed from Rome,
and the next day following fell that house down, and all the work
that Virgilius had made. And so the lords knew they were
deceived, and were sorrowful, and after that they had no fortune
as they had aforetimes.*

The chronic disorders and the wars in Scotland, from
age to age, doubtless caused a good deal of wealth to be
committed for safe keeping to the earth, where much of
it was lost to the depositors. The first (published)
volume of the Lord High Treasurer's Accounts contains
several entries relating to the discovery of such hoards.
Thus, in April, 1490, some treasure being found in the
north, 30?. were paid " to Downy Malwny, to pass owre
the Mwnthe for the man that fande the hurde." On i ith
March, 1491, a payment of 55. was made " to Sperdour,
to pass to Montrose for ane Bercla that fand a hwrd."
In 1492, the sum of ^13 6s. 8d. was received from
Michael Mercer, for his son, John Mercer, finder of the
hoard. In 1494, the sum of ;£io6 135. 4d. was received
from John Currour of the hoard silver which had
been found in Banff; and on the 6th June, 1496, a

* Wright's Narratives of Sorcery and Magic, vol. i., p. 109.

Traditionary Stories. 313

reward of 245. was given •' to the fellow that faund the
hoard to buy him a cow." In consequence of the
actual discoveries occasionally made, legends of hidden
treasure sprung up in almost every district, and found
commemoration generally in popular rhymes : * but the
more remarkable of such stories became localised, with
slight variations, on both sides of the Border, and in
Ireland likewise. Take one instance : — A peasant in
Ayrshire dreamed thrice one night that a voice in-
formed him that if he went and stood on London
bridge, he would obtain great riches. The honest man
awoke in the morning, and being natutally of a cautious,
secretive disposition, he told his wife nothing about the
vision, but embraced the earliest opportunity to slip
away quietly on his journey to London. Having
duly reached the city, he proceeded to the famous
Bridge, and took his stand upon it, wondering where
the promised fortune was to come from. Soon a
stranger accosted him, and, after a little conversation,
the dreamer mentioned the cause of his journey from
Scotland. The other laughed, and said that dreams
were unworthy of regard, for though he had thrice
dreamed that a vast treasure concealed in Ayrshire, at
a spot which he particulatly described, awaited his
research, he was not such a fool as to give heed to such
illusions. The canny Scot listened intently, and his
heart thumped against his ribs when he heard the
description of his own kailyard at home. Warily keep-
ing this secret to himself, he bade good day to the
unknown, and hastened back to Scotland. Joyfully
was his return hailed by his better-half; but vouch-

* Chambers's Popular Rhymes of Scotland.
21

Narratives from Scottish History.

safing her no explanation of his absence, he straight-
way began digging in his yard, and soon his spade
struck upon a pot, which, on being unearthed, was found
filled with gold coins to the brim ! Henceforth he
rolled in affluence, and was able to build Dundonald
Castle. The story is told with a difference in the town
of Swaffham, Norfolk. A tinker sojourning there
dreamed the dream, and, trudging to London, waited
on the bridge for three days, until late in the evening
of the third day, when he was about to abandon hope,
a stranger came up to him, and, in the course of talk,
mentioned that he had dreamed three nights that week
that, if he went to a place called Swaffham, in Nor-
folk, and dug under an apple tree in a certain garden on
the north side of the town, he should find a box of
money ; but he had something else to do than to run
after such idle fancies. The tinker hurried home, dug
under the apple tree, and found an iron chestfull of
gold and silver. " After securing this treasure, he dis-
covered upon the outside of the chest an inscription,
which, being no scholar, he was unable to decypher.
He, therefore, hit upon the following expedient : —
There was in the town a grammar school, several of
the pupils from which were constantly in the habit of
passing his smithy, in their way to and from school.
The tinker judged that by placing the chest at the door
it would excite the attention of the boys, and thus he
should be able to attain the object in view without
exciting any suspicion among his neighbours. He soon
had the opportunity he sought ; a number of the boys
having gathered around, as was their custom, to wit-
ness the operation of the forge, he took occasion to
challenge their scholastic skill in the translation of the

Traditionary Stories. 315

inscription. Some shook their heads ; others, after con-
ning it over awhile, said it was not sufficiently legible.
At length one older than the rest, anxious to display
his superior learning, after scraping and brushing off
the rust, gave the following solution to it : —

Where this stood

Is another twice as good.

Overjoyed at this information, the tinker, next morning,
resumed his labour ; and a little below the ground
already cleared, he found a second chest double the size
of the first, and like it filled with gold and silver coin.
The account goes on to state that becoming thus sud-
denly a wealthy man, the tinker showed his gratitude
to Providence by building a new chancel to the church,
the old one being out of repair." Another version of
the legend is known on the Scottish Border. A shep-
herd dreamed thrice in one night that a pot of money
was hidden in his kailyard. As soon as he arose, he
dug and found a pot, which, to his inexpressible chagrin,
was empty ! As the vessel was sound, and otherwise
eligible for domestic use, it was consigned to the kitchen
and for some years boiled the owner's kail. One day a
pedlar came to the cottage, and sitting down by the
hearth, as the good-wife bade him, to wait till the dinner
was ready, when he should have a portion, he kept his
eyes longingly fastened on the pot over the fire, and at
length perceived a Latin inscription on the rim. This,
to the surprise of his hostess, who had never observed it
before, he translated as follows : —

Beneath this pot you will find another.

The worthy woman said nothing, but gave the learned
packman his dinner, and sent him away contented.

316 Narratives from Scottish History.

When her husband came home and heard the story, he
ran to the yard, and digging deeper than before, found
a second pot, of the same size as the first, but full of
gold.

These, however, are merely " old wives' fables." But
a singular Contract in regard to treasure trove in Scot-
land was formally concluded in 1594. The notorious
Robert Logan of Restalrig, a supposed accessory to the
Gowrie Conspiracy, and a man of desperate life, fell into
such extremities for ready money that he was driven to
send out his retainers to rob travellers on the roads near
Fast Castle. His straits probably sharpened his recollec-
tion of some family legend touching a hidden pose in
the grim old fortress overlooking the Lammermuirs and
the German Ocean, and, like a drowning man clutching
at a straw, he clutched at the possibility of there being
some truth in the tradition. Fired by the thought of
sudden riches, he applied to the philosopher, John
Napier of Merchiston, the inventor of Logarithms, and
the foremost man of science of his day in Britain, but
reputed by the common people as a warlock. Napier
listened to the proposition, and, upon fair terms being
offered him for his ^abours, he drew up a regular Con-
tract for the adventure, which he and Restalrig sub-
scribed. . We copy the document (with modernised
orthography) : —

CONTRACT, MERCHISTON AND RESTALRIK.

At Edinbruch, the day of July, year of God Im vc four-score
fourteen years [1594] — It is appointed, contracted, and agreed,
betwix the persons underwritten ; that is to say, Robert Logan of
Restalrig on the ane part, and John Napier, fear of Merchiston, on
the other part, in manner, form, and effect as follows : To wit,
forsameikle as there is divers auld reports, motives, and appearances,

Traditionary Stories. 317

that there should be within the said Robert's dwelling-place of
Fast Castle, a sum of money and pose, hid and hoarded up
secretly, whilk as yet is unfound by any man : The said John shall
do his utter and exact diligence to search and seek out, and by all
craft and ingyne that he dow, to tempt, try, and find out the same,
and by the grace of God, either shall find the same, or then make
it sure that no such thing has been there, so far as his utter travail,
diligence, and ingyne may reach. For the whilk the said Robert
shall give, as by the tenor hereof gives and grants unto the said
John the just third part of whatsoever pose or hid treasure the said
John shall find, or be found by his moyen and ingyne, within or
about the said place of Fast Castle, and that to be parted be just
weight and balance betwixt them but [without] any fraud, strife,
debate, and contention, on such manner as the said Robert shall
have the just twa parts, and the said John the just third part
thereof upon their faith, truth, and conscience. And for the said
John's sure return and safe back-coming therewith to Edinbruch,
unbeing [without being] spulzied of his said third part, or otherwise
harmed in body or gear, the said Robert shall make the said John
safe convoy, and accompany him safely in manner foresaid back to
Edinbruch, where the said John, being safely returned, shall, in
presence of the said Robert, cancel and destroy this present con-
tract, as a full discharge of either of their parts honestly satisfied
and performed to others ; and ordains that no other discharge
hereof but the destroying of this present contract shall be of any
avail, force, or effect. And in case the said John shall find no
pose to be there, and after all trial and utter diligence taken ; he
refers the satisfaction of his travail and pains to the discretion of
the said Robert. In witness of thir presents, and of all honesty,
fidelity, faith, and upright doing to be observed and kept by both
the said parties to other, they have subscribed thir presents with
their hands at Edinbruch, day and year foresaid.

Robert Logane of Restalrige.

Jhone Neper, Fear of Merchistoun.

The clause framed to secure the philosopher's safe
return to Edinburgh with his share of the treasure,
clearly indicates his estimate of Logan's character. It
is not known whether Napier ever went to Fast Castle

3 1 8 Narratives from Scottish History.

in pursuance of the bargain : but this much is plain, that
soon after the date thereof, Napier is found evincing the
most violent ill-will and resentment against Restalrig,
which would infer that the latter had grossly deceived
him.*

Another man of science, — William Lilly, the astro-
loger,— but of far inferior grade to the sage of Merchis-
ton, undertook a like enterprise in the cloister of West-
minster Abbey, in the year 1634. The attempt was
made at night, and the mosaical or divining rod was
brought into service ; but after great pains taken, failure
resulted. A tempestuous wind arising, blew out the
lights, and terrified the party. " The true miscarriage
of the business," says Lilly, " was by reason of so many
people being present at the operation ; for there was
about thirty, some laughing, others deriding ; so that if
we had not dismissed the demons, I believe most part
of the Abbey Church had been blown down ; secrecy and
intelligent operators, with a strong confidence and know-
ledge of what they are doing, are best for this work."

An old rhyme common in western Perthshire runs

thus—

From the Roman Camp at Ardoch

To the Grainin Hill of Keir,
Are nine Kings' rents
For nine hundred years.

Or, as it has been varied by reciters—

Between the Camp at Ardoch

And the Grainin Hill of Keir,
Lie seven Kings' ransoms

For seven hundred year.

* Napier's Memoirs of John Napier of Merchiston, p. 220 ; which
gives &fac simile of the contract.

Traditionary Stories. 319

About half-a-mile distant from Ardoch, there is another
Camp on the Grainin (or Sunny) Hill of Keir, and it has
been said that a subterranean passage ran between the
two entrenchments. Although the rents or ransoms
have never yet been found, still, it is a curious fact, that
about the year 1672, a considerable quantity of Roman
coinage was unearthed at a place four or five miles south
of Ardoch. This is stated in a letter from James, Lord
Drummond, afterwards fourth Earl of Perth, to Mr.
Patrick Drummond, dated at Stobhall, i5th January,
1672, and printed among the Blairdrummond Papers, in
the Tenth Report of the Royal Commissioners on His-
torical Manuscripts. We subjoin a modernized copy of
this interesting epistle : —

My dearest friend, — Your Almanacs arrived last week, with the
book directed to me. My father was mightily pleased with his
part. I assure you mine was no less satisfactory to me. I have
not yet read it quite through ; for I was engaged in Doctor Browne's
Vulgar Errors. On Saturday I read his discourse of Urn Burial,
with which I was so taken, that in a very short time I read it. No
doubt he is an extraordinary person, both for learning and piety.
His Religio Medici I never saw, nor is it in Scotland to be had.
My reading the first lines of the discourse I mentioned puts me in
mind to shew you that lately near Drummond (that's to say, within
five miles) amongst the hills which lie at its back, towards the
Forest which belongs to my father, two countrymen intending to
build a new kiln for corn in the seat of an old overgrown one, and
searching deep to lay its foundation, found a great ring of gold and
a considerable deal of money, which they disposed to pedlars, for
its weight in the common coin of this country : they carried it to
goldsmiths in Perth ; and, for a very inconsiderable gain, sold
them. Only one accidentally came to Drummond, where my
father was about his affairs in that place, who bought about 24 of
the pieces. They are about the breadth of a very large 3-pence,
and thrice as thick, or more. I have not yet taken particular
notice to them, but these I saw had upon them Domitian, Com-

320 Narratives from Scottish History.

modus, Antoninus Pius, Trajan and Diva Faustina. Their reverse
was different as well as their obverse. I believe there may be more
heads amongst them. The figures are excellently well stampt, and
by their dress appear to have been as old as those they represent.
If you intend to speak of them to any, send me word, and I will
ask some of them from my father ; for most of them he has twice
or thrice. The thing that I am most concerned at is, the gold-
smiths put them in work (like fools), for they might have had much
gain of them ; but the silver was so good it would not mix with
theirs until a third part of alloy was joined to them. They say
there was more than a bushel of them ; but all the enquiry I could
make could not get me any of them. The Leaguer of the Romans
for one whole winter lay at Ardoch, some four miles or more
towards the south from that place, and there is to be seen their
entrenchments and fortifications in circular lines deeper in some
places than that a man on horseback can be seen : and north-east
from that there are more trenches, alike in form and largeness : but
the ground being much better has made the people, against my
grandfather's order, till them down in some places. There was
near there a round open, like the mouth of a narrow well, of a great
depth, into which my grandfather ordered a malefactor to go, who
(glad of the opportunity to escape hanging) went and brought up a
spur and buckle of brass ; which were lost the time that a garrison
of Oliver's dispossessed us of Drummond. There was found a stone
there upon which was cut an inscription to show that a captain of
the Spanish Legion died there. If you please, I shall copy it for
you. It is rudely cut, etc.

The story of the " round open " and the malefactor is
told, with a difference, in the old Statistical Account of
Muthill Parish, written by the Rev. John Scott.
According to his authority, there was a hole near the
side of the Prcetorium, "at Ardoch, that went in a
sloping direction for many fathoms ; in which, it was
generally believed, treasures, as well as Roman anti-
quities, might be found. In order to ascertain this fact,
a man, who had been condemned by the baron court of
a neighbouring lord, upon obtaining a pardon, agreed to

Traditionary Stories. 321

be let down by a rope into this hole. He at first
brought up with him, from a great depth, Roman spears,
helmets, fragments of bridles, and several other articles ;
but, upon being let down a second time, was killed by
foul air. No attempts have been made since that time.
The articles above-mentioned lay at the House of
Ardoch for many years, but were all carried off by some
of the soldiers in the Duke of Argyll's army, in 1715,
after the Battle of SherirTmuir, and could never after-
wards be recovered. The mouth of the hole was
covered up with a millstone, by an old gentleman who
lived at the House of Ardoch, while the family were in
Russia, about the year 1720, to prevent hares from
running into it when pursued by his dogs ; and as earth,
to a considerable depth, was laid over the millstone, the
place cannot now be found, although diligent search has
been made for it." The Kings' rents or ransoms,
therefore, still remain intact, waiting to reward the
diligent research of some fortunate discoverer.

Pliny, the Naturalist, in speaking of soils and tillage,
says that "often, in a calm evening before sunset, the
earth, in the place over which the ends of the rainbow
have passed, and when it is wet with a shower after a
continued drought, then sends forth that divine savour
of its own, conceived by the sun, to which no sweetness
can compare." But another and more peculiar and
valuable quality was afterwards attributed to the "trium-
phal arch," namely that where its ends seemed to touch
the earth, they indicated the existence of buried treasures
immediately beneath ! Thus, Nature herself was forced
into the money-digger's service! The rainbow theory
was common in this country, and has been illustrated in
Dr. Wilkie's Fables :—

322 Narratives from Scottish History.

One ev'ning as a simple swain

His flock attended on the plain,

The shining Bow he chanc'd to spy

Which warns us when a show'r is nigh ;

With brightest rays it seem'd to glow,

Its distance eighty yards or so.

This bumpkin had, it seems, been told

The story of the cup of gold,

Which Fame reports is to be found

Just where the Rainbow meets the ground ;

He therefore felt a sudden itch

To seize the goblet and be rich.

He marked the very spot of land
On which the Rainbow seem'd to stand,
And stepping forwards at his leisure
Expected to have found the treasure.
But as he mov'd, the colour'd ray
Still chang'd its place and slipt away,
As seeming his approach to shun ;
From walking he began to run,
But all in vain, it still withdrew
As nimbly as he could pursue ;
At last, thro' many a bog and lake,
Rough craggy road and thorny brake,
It led the easy fool, till night
Approach'd, then vanish'd in his sight,
And left him to compute his gains,
With nought but labour for his pains.*

*^Fables, by William Wilkie, D.D., Professor of Natural
Philosophy in the University of St. Andrews. London : 1768,
p. 41. Dr. Wilkie was called the "Scottish Homer," as the
author of Ike Epigoniad, an epic poem, which appeared in Edin-
burgh in 1757 and saw a second edition in 1759, but is now
forgotten.

Traditionary Stories. 323

A modern traveller in Cilicia saw a simple mode of
essaying the discovery of buried treasure. An Armenian
adept inscribed magical words upon scraps of paper,
which he straightway scattered in the air, and then dug
in the places where they chanced to fall, — but it is not
said that he ever found any money.

It was believed that particular places where treasures
lay concealed, were occasionally disclosed to persons in
visions of the night : and Reginald Scott, in his Discovery
of Witchcraft, describes the " art and order to be used
in digging for money " in such cases. He says —
" There must be made upon a hazel wand three crosses,
and certain words must be said over it, and hereunto
must be added certain characters and barbarous names.
And whilst the treasure is a digging, there must be read
the psalms De profundis, etc., and then a certain prayer;
and if the time of digging be neglected, the devil will
carry all the treasure away."

The Rev. Robert Kirk, minister of the parish of
Aberfoyle, Perthshire (who died, or was said to have
been carried off to Fairyland, in 1692), wrote a treatise
entitled The Secret Commonwealth^ which is thought to
have been printed in 1691. In this curious brochure,
he tells a story of hidden money revealed in dreams.
" About the year 1676," he says, "when there was some
scarcity of grain, a marvellous illapse and vision strongly
struck the imagination of two women in one night, living
at4a good distance from one another, about a treasure
hid [in a hill called Sithbruaich, or Fairy Hill. The
appearance of a treasure was first represented to the
fancy, and then an audible voice named the place where
it was to their waking senses. Whereupon both arose,
and, meeting accidentally at the place, discovered their

324 Narratives from Scottish History.

design ; and joyously digging, found a vessel as large as
a Scottish peck, full of small pieces of good money, of
ancient coin ; which halving betwixt them, they sold in
dishfuls for dishfuls of meal 10 the country people.
Very many of undoubted credit saw, and had of the
coin to this day. But whether it was a good or bad
angel, one of the subterranean people, or the restless
soul ot him who hid it, that discovered it, and to what
end it was done, I leave to the examination of others." *

Another dream instance is related in the Treatise
on the Second Sight, by Theophilus Insulanus, published
at Edinburgh in 1763, and afterwprds included in the
third volume of the Miscellanea Scotica : — " Kenneth
Morison, of good repute with his contemporaries, then
living at Glendale, had a revelation in a dream, as
follows : A person informed him in sleep, that if he
should repair to the kirk of Kilchoan, and look out at
the east window, he might see at the distance of two
pair of butts, in a direct line eastward, a stone larger
than any near it in that direction ; upon removing of
which, he would find silver, which had been hid under
it ; and accordingly he lost no time, but went the next
day to take his observation as he was directed ; and
having found out the stone, was not disappointed, as it
overlay a heap of silver under it of different size, coinage,
and value ; a part of which was not then of the common
currency."

As regards the " hazel wand," properly the Divining
Rod, which it was believed would dip its point in the
operator's hands as he passed over underground water

* A reprint of this work, ably edited by Mr. Andrew Lang, was
published in London in 1893.

Traditionary Stories. 325

or metal, and was therefore much used to discover
buried treasure, we need say no more about it than
simply to notice en passant how, in a well-known
instance, its alleged power in detecting metals utterly
failed. In France, towards the end of the seventeenth
century, Jacques Aymar was an adept of great repute
for his wonders with the rod. He was ultimately
summoned to Paris, where his skill was tested by
experiment under the direction of the Prince of Conde.
" Five holes were dug in the garden. In one was
secreted gold, in another silver, in a third silver and
gold, in the fourth copper, and in the fifth stones. The
rod made no signs in presence of the buried metals, and
at last actually began to move over the buried pebbles." *
As it was a settled point that frequently supernatural
beings watched over treasures, the presumption naturally
followed that places reputed to be haunted were places
where secreted riches would probably be found. " The
popular belief," says Southey, in the Doctor, " that
places are haunted where money has been concealed
(as if, where the treasure was and the heart had been,
there would the miserable soul be also), or where some
great and undiscovered crime has been committed,
shows how consistent this is with our natural sense of
likelihood and fitness." Some curious directions on this
subject have been left by the renowned Paracelsus : —

In the first place, we must show by what tokens a person may
be able to ascertain whether a treasure is concealed in a certain
spot : and in order to put this point beyond doubt, he must pay
particular attention as to whether a great number of ghosts allow

* Baring-Gould's Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, 1881 :
pp. 60-78.

326 Narratives from Scottish History.

themselves to be seen and heard there at night-time, kicking up a
great disturbance, so that the people, who pass in that direction,
are in a terrible fright, breaking out into a cold perspiration, and
their hair standing on end. The ghosts are more troublesome on
Saturday nights, and, if people carry a light with them, it is blown
out as if they were passing through a current of air. It often
occurs, too, that, when treasure lies concealed in a house, abund-
ance of ghosts are to be seen and heard making a most tremendous
uproar. Now, when these things occur, you may rest assured that
there is a heap of concealed treasure there, without requiring any
other token. Treasures are, however, of two sorts : one which
belongs to a human mint, and which may be found and possessed,
and the other not. Consequently every treasure-digger must pay
attention to the signs above-mentioned, as the Divining Rod is
deceptive, being easily influenced by a penny, which may have been
lost, and the other means which necromantic treasure-seekers make
use of, such as mirrors and goblets, are equally so ; therefore let no
man depend upon them."

Where demons were suspected as being on guard, incan-
tations were performed to put them to flight, or to
render them subservient. A graphic illustration of this
practice occurs in the story of the Necromancer with
whom Benvenuto Cellini, the Florentine artist, went
twice, at night, to the Colosseum of Rome to raise
demons and compel them by the power of sorcery to
divulge where treasures were hidden. On the first
occasion, "there appeared several legions of devils, in-
somuch that the amphitheatre was quite filled with
them ; " but nothing more transpired. Next night, after
the ceremonies had commenced, and the air was thick
with the smoke of burning perfumes and other drugs,
Cellini's boy declared that he saw terrible shapes hover-
ing around the magic circle within which the party had
placed themselves — " that there were in that place a
million of fierce men, who threatened to destroy us ; and

^raditionary Stories. 327

that moreover four armed giants of an enormous stature
were endeavouring to break into our circle." Nobody
else, except the Necromancer, seems to have seen the
phantoms ; and Benvenuto, though much terrified, tried
to reassure the boy by telling him that "all those
demons were under us, and that what he saw was
nothing but smoke and shadow ; " for, in fact, it has been
supposed that the apparitions were produced by the secret
use of a magic-lantern acting on the dense smoke. No
tangible result came of this adventure, and Cellini had
more good sense than to resume it. But not only in the
discovery of treasures were incantations practised : they
were equally necessary when a precious deposit was laid
in the ground. The Buccaneers of America are said to
have been in the habit of concealing their ill-gotten gains
on the wild and desolate keys of the coast : and this was
done with frightful rites of Indian diablerie, which were
followed by the murder of the negro slaves who assisted
at the burying of the wealth, and who were then interred
in the same spots, that so their restless ghosts, haunting
the scenes of their slaughter, might frighten away all
strangers. Bertram, in Rokeby, speaks to this effect : —

An ancient mariner I knew,
What time I sail'd with Morgan's crew,
Who oft, 'mid our carousals, spake
Of Raleigh, Frobisher, and Drake ;
Adventurous hearts ! who barter'd, bold,
Their English steel for Spanish gold.
Trust not, would his experience say,
Captain or comrade with your prey ;
But seek some charnel, when, at full,
The moon gilds skeleton and skull :
There dig, and tomb your precious heap :
And bid the dead your treasure keep ;

328 Narratives from Scottish History.

Sure stewards they, if fitting spell
Their service to the task compel.
Lacks there such charnel ? — kill a slave,
Or prisoner on the treasure-grave ;
And bid his discontented ghost,
Stalk nightly on his lonely post.
Such was his tale.

On the other hand, murder has been committed as a
spell to aid the discovery of treasure. In the spring of
1869, the Levant Herald reported that a rayah Greek of
Constantinople dreamed that a heap of treasure lay
buried in the plain of Veli Effendi, beyond the Seven
Towers, but that to discover it he must kill a child on
the spot. Saying nothing to his wife, he resolved to
sacrifice his own little daughter, a child of ten years.
As she was at school when he formed this diabolical
resolution, he went thither, took her away, and on pre-
tence of going for a walk, led her to the supposed place,
and there murdered her ! Having accomplished the
deed, he began digging for the gold ; but after several
hours' exploration, without any appearance of the hoard,
he returned home, leaving the dead child lying. The
mother, wondering what had become of the girl, ques-
tioned her wretched husband, and he answering incoher-
ently, suspicion was aroused, search was made, and the
body being found, the murderer confessed his guilt.

Various stories have been current in Scotland about
spirits or demons thwarting the searchers for concealed
treasure. In the end of last century, a cateran in the
Highlands of Perthshire was said to have concealed his
money in a cavern, which had been his haunt for many
years. After his death, the report induced certain
neighbours of the vicinity, and among the rest a sa-
gacious farmer of the name of Finlay Robertson, to

Traditionary Stories. 329

make a thorough investigation, in the hope of rendering
themselves the freebooter's heirs. They repaired to the
place, provided with the necessary implements, and
commenced their work with great vigour, confident of a
successful termination, when in an instant, each and all
of them were struck as by an electric shock, and the
mattocks dropped from their nerveless hands. Over-
come with mortal terror, they rushed pell-mell from the
cave, as though a legion of fiends had them in chase ;
and so strong was their conviction that some unearthly
influence had exerted itself against them that they never
again mustered courage to return. The cateran's pose
may therefore be lying untouched to this day. A tradi-
tion exists relating to a pot of treasure buried in the
bottom of a deep pool beneath a fall of the stream
crossed by Crawfurdland Bridge near Kilmarnock.
Often did venturesome wights dam up the current, and
empty the basin ; but their work went no farther ; for
invariably did strange cries, now of alarm, and now of
distress, lure them away to a short distance, and in the
interval the water burst the dam, rendering all their toil
useless. In like manner a reputed hoard in the ancient
Castle of Hermitage was frequently sought for, but every
time the operators were scared away by sudden storms
of thunder and lightning ! It was long believed that a
great amount of wealth lay hidden under the ruins of the
Collegiate Church of Methven, Perthshire, but that the
depositors, to ensure its immunity from plunder, had
buried the Plague along with it ; so that any disturbers
of the hoard would let loose the Pestilence upon the
country. At one time, several of the more courageous
villagers ventured on a search ; but as they dug, a bluish,
foetid vapour began to rise from the earth, and then a

. 22

33O Narratives from Scottish History.

hollow voice exclaimed — " Begone ! Let sleeping dogs
lie ! " — a warning which instantly scattered the party,
and has ever since prevented any resumption of such an
enterprise.

Wierus, a writer on the magic and witchcraft of former
days, relates that a priest of Nuremberg having raised
the devil by incantation, the fiend showed him in a
mirror the place where vast wealth lay concealed. The
priest went to the spot, and began his excavations.
Labouring hard, he at length reached a chest of treasure,
over which a black dog appeared, acting as guardian ;
but next moment the earth fell in upon the searcher, and
covered him up, and he was never more seen, nor was
the place where he had perished ever known. This
legend has a Perthshire parallel.

An upright block of stone in Glenalmond — either an
ancient landmark, or the monument of a pre-historic
chieftain — was said to denote where treasure lay hidden.
A shepherd of the neighbourhood dreamed one night
of digging out a rich pose from under this monolith ;
and so strongly did the fancy impress his mind that fre-
quently as he passed the place, morning and evening, his
ear seemed to catch the chink of coin beneath the stone.
At length he determined to make a thorough search, and
with that view repaired to the spot early on a summer
morning with the necessary implements. But scarce
had he struck his spade into the sod when a shrill voice
exclaimed —

" Black John ! Black John !
Beware of that stone ! "

Starting back, and letting the spade drop from his nerve-
less fingers, he gazed tremblingly around ; but nobody
was to be seen ! Perhaps it was the elvish guardian of

Traditionary Stories. 331

the treasure who had spoken, as being averse to the dis-
covery of the hoard ; and if so, there could be no longer
any doubt about the actuality of the pose. Fired with
this idea, our hero fell to work with might and main,
steeled against the opposition of the unseen world. The
mystic warning was repeated ; but it fell on ears deaf as
the adder's — hermetically sealed by the hand of Mam-
mon. The labour proceeded rapidly ; but still without
any sign of the " kist " or pot against which the breath-
less herdsman expected every moment to clash his spade.
Unwittingly he toiled — never perceiving that he was
undermining the huge stone. In an instant, down it
tumbled upon his back, burying him, a lifeless mass, in
the grave of his imaginary riches : and thenceforward it
was known as Clach-a-buachil, or the Stone of the
Herdsman.

The " Standing Stone " on the hill of Kirriemuir,
Forfarshire, has a tragic legend somewhat akin to that
which has just been related. This relic, which origin-
ally formed a single monolith, has, at some time in the
distant past, " been split into two, one part left standing,
the other lying on the ground. Above) the surface of
the ground, the standing part is nine feet in height, and
the lying part of the stone nearly thirteen^feet in length.
The purpose for which the stone was erected is un-
known. Regarding the cause of the stone having been
split into two, tradition saith that after a most daring
robbery had been committed, the robbers sat down
beside the stone to count their gold, when the^stone
suddenly split into two, the falling part burying the
robbers and their booty underneath together. It is
currently believed, that by lifting the stone, the treasure

332 Narratives from Scottish History.

would be found, but to this day no one has had the
courage to test the experiment." *

Two hundred years ago, Roslin Castle, the old seat of
"the lordly line of high St. Clair," was reputed as being
the repository of concealed wealth — at least Slezer, the
Dutchman, so averred in his Theatrum Scotia, 1693.
" A great treasure, we are told," quoth he, " amounting
to some millions, lies buried in one of the vaults. It is
under the guardianship of a lady of the ancient house of
St. Clair who, not very faithful to her trust, had been
long in a dormant state. Awakened, however, by the
sound of a trumpet, which must be heard in one of the
lower apartments, she is to make her appearance, and to
point out the spot where the treasure lies." But the
blast of the trumpet has never yet been heard.

The ruins of Castle Tirim or Tiorim, crowning a low,
rocky promontory, which is now and then surrounded by
the sea, on the south side of the opening of Loch
Moidart, on the West Highland coast, are associated
with the lore of treasure-trove. The castle was for ages
the seat of the Macdonalds, Chiefs of Clanranald. It is
said to have been built about 1350 by Amie Macrory,
the first spouse of John of Isla, Lord of the Isles ; and
in its palmy days it must have been a fortress of great
strength — three stories in height, and with all its
windows looking into the courtyard, not one being
towards the sea. In 1715, when the Earl of Mar raised
the Jacobite standard of rebellion, a party of the Argyle
Campbells seized the Castle in the Hanoverian interest,
as the Captain of Clanranald, Allan Moidartach (of

* The Vale of Strathmore : its Scenes and Legends. By James
Cargill Guthrie : Edinburgh, 1875, P- 4^3-

Traditionary Stories. 333

Moidart), one of Mar's most devoted partisans, was
about to join the insurgents. Allan marched off, but
left a party of his men in ambush near the Castle to
watch the garrison, and if possible to drive them out
and then set the place on fire to prevent it again
harbouring foes. Allan's plan was speedily carried into
effect, and the seat of his ancestors given to the flames.*
He himself fell at the Battle of Sheriffmuir, leading on
his clan.

It is related by a writer in the Celtic Magazine
(vol. xi., p. 409), that " there always had been a tradi-
tion in Moidart, since Allan's death, that, in the hurry
of departure from the Castle, a certain sum of money
had been forgotten, which might be found buried under
part of the ruins. It was also a tradition that, previous
to Allan's time, another sum had been stolen from one
of the Chiefs then resident at Castle Tyrim, and
that, doubtful as to the real culprit, the Chief
hanged his butler, his cook, and another servant,
all of whom he had strong reasons to suspect.
Most people, except the natives, looked upon these
traditions as idle stories, for there never yet has
been a ruined castle without its legend of some secret
treasure being buried beneath its vaults, or stored away
in some secret chamber which no one can find. How-
ever, in the present case, the tradition turned out to be
correct. When Mr. Hope Scott bought the adjoining
property from the late Lochshiel, he took steps to have
the inner court of Castle Tyrim cleared of a large mass
of debris which blocked the entrance, and which filled
the court to a depth of several feet. About a week after

* Anderson's Guide to the Highlands. Fourth edition, p. 128.

334 Narratives from Scottish History.

commencing operations, one of the workmen, in clearing
away the fragments of a beam which had been reduced
almost to charcoal, perceived a small heap, which he at
first imagined to be a part of this charcoal, but which,
on a closer examination, he discovered to be cloth or
leather, but so worn or burnt as to make it difficult to
determine its true substance. Inside the heap there
was a heavy coagulated mass of coins, large in shape,
and encrusted with verdigris. The find was, of course,
handed over to Mr. Hope Scott. Upon examination,
and after a thorough cleaning and burnishing of the
whole, it was discovered that these coins were Spanish
and German silver dollars, solid like our own crown
pieces, lately in circulation, and of beautiful design.
Ultimately, they passed into the hands of Admiral
Sir Reginald Macdonald of Clanranald, so that, after a
lapse of one hundred and sixty years, they may be said
to have returned to their legitimate owner." Let us
here venture the conjecture that this foreign money had
been secreted long before Allan of Moidart's day, and
that he had never known of its existence — else he would
have ordered it to be brought away by the party who
fired the Castle.

The same writer further states that " a few years after
this, that portion of Moidart, latterly called Dorlin, was
bought from Mr. Hope Scott by the late Lord Howard
of Glossop. Amid the many schemes for improving the
estate, inaugurated by that enlightened nobleman, was
one of opening up a path along the cliffs overhanging
the sea-shore, eastward of Dorlin House, towards a
deserted hamlet called Briac. When the cutting had
reached one of the roughest spots, a small open space,
barely visible from below, was discovered, and in its

Traditionary Stories. 335

centre a heap of loose stones, which, on being dispersed,
revealed a pile of silver coins, about the size of our
present shilling pieces. So far, as can be judged, there
must have been a hundred and fifty, or thereabouts, of
them. They all belonged to the reign of Queen
Elizabeth, and were of the very basest metal. This, un-
doubtedly, was the money stolen from one of the earlier
chiefs, and for which his hapless servants suffered."

During the Rebellion of 1715, a Jacobite emissary, a
Perthshire man, named Duncan Graham, came over
from France with a small supply of arms and money
for the English insurgents, intending to put ashore in
the Solway. Before this was effected, however, his
sloop was chased by an English cruiser, and driven
into the Firth of Clyde, where the arms and treasure,
with a considerable quantity of smuggled goods, were
safely landed under cover of a dark night. It was the
month of November, and, soon after quitting the
vessel, Duncan learned with dismay that the town of
Preston had surrendered, and the Earl of Mar had lost
the Battle of Sheriffmuir. The arms were placed in
temporary security, and Duncan and his coadjutors
resolved to attempt carrying the money and despatches
across the country to the Rebel camp at Perth. They
set out, and, after a great deal of marching and counter-
marching, were closely pursued, and driven to seek
refuge among the Trossachs, where they hurriedly
buried the treasure to save it from the chance of being
taken. Scarcely was this effected when the enemy were
upon them. Resistance was fruitless ; yet Duncan
defended himself with desperation, and fought on until
he was overpowered. He fell, covered with wounds, and
was left for dead. But some friendly Highlanders,

336 Narratives from Scottish History.

afterwards passing by the scene of conflict, found him
where he lay, and, perceiving that he still breathed, con-
veyed him to a cottage, by which means his life was pre-
served. The utmost care was taken of the helpless
stranger. He languished till after the suppression of
the Rebellion ; and, although he slowly recovered his
strength, it soon became manifest that his reason was
shattered. His memory retained only a broken impres-
sion of the past. He remembered his mission from
France, and the money with which he had been en-
trusted, and that he had buried it ; but as to the place
of its concealment, he had no recollection whatever :
whilst his companions in the adventure were either
dead or in exile — nobody knew anything about them.
Duncan left his sick-bed, with the sense of duty strong
upon him. He had no home — no friends ; and he
seemed to consider the recovery of the hidden treasure
and its restoration to the proper owners as the impera-
tive object of his life. Forth he wandered among the
hills and glens in quest of the lost deposit. Day by day
he was seen in the solitudes, roaming slowly, with keen
eyes scrutinizing the ground and the crannies of the
crags ; and people began to speak of him as " Duncan
the Seeker," and, pitying his mental affliction, charitably
supplied his bodily wants. For years he led this strange,
errant life, until at last he dropped down in the desert,
and drew his last breath — his treasure still unfound.*

In the month of March, 1728, a Dutch East-India-
man, homeward bound, with specie on board to the
amount of ;£i 6,000 sterling, was lost on the coast of
Scotland, near the Isle of Lewis. Soon a project was
set on foot for recovering the treasure from the depths

* Fillan's Stories of the Scottish Rebellions.

Traditionary Stories. 337

of Neptune's realm. A Dutchman brought to this
country a machine adapted for the purpose, and he
managed to obtain funds for carrying on the work from
two Scotsmen who were to share in the profits realised.
These capitalists were Mr Mackenzie, younger of
Delvine, Perthshire, who was a Clerk of Session and
also Depute-Admiral of Scotland, and Mr. Alexander
Tait, merchant. The Dutchman proved no Douster-
swivel. The operations were so successful that by the
month of October, several cartloads of the fished-up
money were brought to Edinburgh. Hearing of this,
the Dutch East-India Company petitioned the Scottish
Court of Admiralty on the subject, and Mr. Mackenzie
gave in an account of his intromissions, showing that he
had recovered ;£ 14,620 at the cost of ^9000 of work-
ing expenses. The statement was satisfactory, and Mr.
Mackenzie was found entitled to 20,000 crowns and
some doubloons out of the treasure, and decerned to
lodge the remainder in Court. The divers employed
about the ship brought ashore the dead bodies of 240
seamen of the crew, and gave them decent burial. At
the end of the same year, a certain Captain Row came
down from London to Scotland with a Royal privilege
for ten years empowering him to raise treasure, etc.,
out of lost ships on the Scottish coasts. He tried his
skill upon a Spanish Armada ship, which had gone to
the bottom off the island of Barra ; but it would appear
that his pains proved unremunerative.

Whilst supernatural beings watched jealously over
hidden treasures, certain of that fraternity were occa-
sionally generous enough to communicate to favoured
mortals the secret of where concealed wealth lay. A
case or two in point may be related.

338 Narratives from Scottish History.

The Presbytery of Aberdeen held a meeting on
soth November, 1601, when "Walter Ronaldson, in the
Kirkton of Dyce, being cited to this day, as he that was
delated to have familiarity of a spirit, compeared, and
being examined, confessed that, upon a 27 years syne,
there came to his door a spirit, and called upon him,
' Wattie, Wattie,' and this was in the barley-seed time,
and therefra removed, and thereafter came every year
twa times sinsyne, but saw no thing, but heard a voice
as said is. In special at Michaelmas in 1600 years, it
came where the deponer was in his bed sleeping, and it
sat down anent (opposite) the bed upon a kist, and
called upon him, saying, ' Wattie, Wattie,' and then he
wakened and saw the form of it, which was like ane
little body, having a shaven beard, clad in white linen
like a sark, and it said to the said Walter, 'Thou art
under wraik; gang to the weachman's house in
Stanivoid, and there thou shalt find both gold and silver
with vessel,' wha, according 10 the direction, geid to
that place, having with him spades and company, and
could find na thing, and he was foustaless (without
strength) he could not do na thing, always they that
was with him, viz., Patrick Gray, John Baith, and
William Paul, and they [searched for a] kist, but faund
na thing. The persuaders of him to gang there were
his wife and bairns, and believes there is gold there, if
it was well sought. Mr. William Nelson, his minister,
reported that he is a diligent hearer of the Word, and
comrnunicat with the Sacrament of the Lord's Table ;
and Mr. Willjam to try further of him." * It would

* Selections from the Records of the Kirk Session, Presbytery ^
and Synod of Aberdeen (Spalding Club), p. 184.

Traditionary Stories. 339

thus appear that Wattle continued firmly to hug the
belief that had he been in what Scotch lawyers call legi
poustie, and therefore able to seek well, he would have
found the pose,

Another and far more remarkable case had a different
denouement. About the year 1750, a young divinity
student, named Thomas Lilly, the son of a farmer in
Kelso parish, was one day sitting in his father's house,
when an old man suddenly appeared in the room, and
declared himself as the spirit of one of the youth's
ancestors ! " What ? " cried the student, in mingled
terror and amaze. " Art thou the soul of my grandfather,
who amidst riches perished for lack of food ? " To
which the apparition replied — " Thou art right. Money
was my deity, and Mammon my master. I heaped up
gold, but did not enjoy it. It is, for the most part,
hidden in a field, on your father's farm, and I intend
that you, his son, should be the sole possessor of it.
Follow me to that field, and I will point out to you the
precise place where you are to dig. " An astounding
disclosure ! And, continues the narrative, " here the
apparition stalked forth round the barn-yard, and Lilly
followed him, till he came to a field about three furlongs
from his father's door, when the apparition stood still on
a certain spot, wheeled thrice round, and vanished into
air. This proved to be the precise place which young
Lilly and his companions had often devoted to pastime,
being a hollow whence stone had formerly been dug.
He lost but little time in consideration, for having pro-
cured a pick-axe and a spade, he actually discovered the
treasure. His immense wealth enabled him to perform
many acts of charity in that country, as many can testily
to this day. The pots in which the money, consisting

340 Narratives from Scottish History.

of large pieces of gold and silver, were deposited, have
often been shown as curiosities hardly to be equalled in
the south of Scotland." Such is the wonderful relation,
which appeared in the World of Spirits, published in
1796. Perhaps the tale had some slight foundation in
fact — a dream, and the finding of a hoard ; but as it
stands, we can only remark of it, in the words of the old
proverb, that " if a' stories be true, this is nae lee."

Some treasure stones and rhymes are known in Aber-
nethy, the capital of the Picts. The Golden Cradle in
the Loch has been heard of for generations, but never
brought to light ; and there is a rhyme which says —

As muckle siller lang has lain

'Tween the Castle Law and Carney-vane

As would enrich a' Scotland ane by ane.

Carney-vane is among the hills south of the Castle Law
of Abernethy, and in that vicinity, at a former time some
golden keys were, it is said, found in a burn — probably
those of the treasure chest. But the legend of the
Golden Cradle is worth telling ad Ionium,

Old chroniclers aver that when the Pictish kingdom,
which had endured for 1181 years, was subverted by the
Scots, under King Kenneth Macalpine, " every mother's
son " of the vanquished people perished in ruthless mas-
sacre ! Be this as it might, our present object is not to
quarrel with the misleading tradition, but rather to fol-
low one of its many ramifications.

The last stronghold of the Picts was the royal castle
on Abernethy Law, and overlooking the small lake which
fills a circular hollow of about sixty yards in diameter on
the summit of the hill, where remains are still to be seen
of ancient Caledonian fortifications. The water is re-

Traditionary Stories. 341

puted very deep, and its basin seems the crater of an
extinct volcano, the surrounding rocks being evidently of
igneous origin. The supposed site of the Pictish castle
is pointed out on the east side, where a peak rises from
the edge of the loch.

When King Druskin, the last monarch that swayed
the sceptre of Pictavia, went forth to encounter the
Scots, he left his Queen and his infant son (the heir to
the crown) in the Castle of Abernethy. The child lay
in a cradle of pure gold, tended by his royal mother and
a faithful nurse. Successive disasters in the field of
battle prostrated the Pictish power ; and the victorious
Scots advanced, like ravening wolves, to destroy the
castle and to make prize of the Golden Cradle, of which
they had heard wondrous legends. The garrison was
weak and disheartened, and murmured about capitula-
tion on promise of life. The Queen was overpowered
with grief and dismay — her consort slain and his armies
routed. In a paroxysm of desperation, the nurse
snatched up the cradle with the sleeping infant, and
issuing from the castle gate, ascended the rock on the
bank of the loch, and there stood for a moment, elevat-
ing the cradle above her head in siiiht of the approaching
enemy, who shot off a volley of arrows at her ; but every
shaft, though apparently winged with death, flew wide of
the mark. Uttering a shriek of defiance, which rose
shrilly above the shouts of the Scots and the clash of
arms, she leaped from the eminence, and disappeared
with her precious burden in the quiet waters of the lake !
Infuriated by the disappointment, the enemy stormed
the castle, slew all within its walls, and committed it to
the devouring flames. They next set themselves to the
recovery of the cradle, which they conceived easy of

342 Narratives from Scottish History.

accomplishment. But their labours were interrupted by
a terrible tempest ; and in a pause of the elemental
strife, a gaunt female figure, haggard and wild, emerged
into view in the midst of the agitated loch, and chanted,
in hollow tones, the following strain —

" Forbear, forbear, or thus feel my power !

The golden cradle can never be got,
Till a mortal, undaunted, at midnight's mirk hour,

Nine times alone shall encircle this spot.
When nine green lines shall encircle me round,
Then, then, shall the golden cradle be found."

Having uttered these words, she sank beneath the
waves : and the Golden Cradle has never more been
seen.

Not for lack of adventurers to undertake the search,
like King Arthur's knights in the quest of the Sangreal ;
but hitherto the difficulties in the way have proved in-
surmountable. It has been generally believed that if
a person proceeded alone, at midnight, to the loch, and
encircled it nine times with a green thread, the fcharm
would be complete, and the cradle be obtained ; but the
experiment has always been baffled by storms, voices,
or apparitions. Sometimes a dwarfish man, of brown
complexion, with locks and beard of shaggy red hair,
and clad in brownish habiliments of an antique cut, and
wearing a conical cap, crossed the path of the seeker,
and angrily commanded him to desist. This'misshapen
being seems to have been akin to him who appeared to
Keeldar on the Border heath —

The third blast that young Keeldar blew,

Still stood the limber fern ;
And a Wee Man, of swarthy hue,

Upstarted by a cairn.

Traditionary Stories. 343

His russet weeds were brown as heath,

That clothes the upland fell ;
And the hair of his head was frizzly red,

As the purple heather-bell.

" Why rises high the staghound's cry,
Where staghound ne'er should be ?
Why wakes that horn the silent morn,
Without the leave of me ? "

" Brown Dwarf, that o'er the muirland strays,

Thy name to Keeldar tell ! "
" The Brown Man of the Muirs, who stays

Beneath the heather-bell.

" 'Tis sweet, beneath the heather-bell,

To live in autumn brown ;
And sweet to hear the lav'rocks swell,
Far, far from tower and town.

" But woe betide the shrilling horn,

The chase's surly cheer !
And ever that hunter is forlorn,
Whom first at morn I hear."

Stories have been rife among aged denizens of Aber-
nethy concerning reckless "blades" who essayed the
winning of the Cradle. "There was never ane that
gaed" — a narrator would say — "but something uncanny
befel him. My granny kent twa or three that tried it :
and sair did their folk rue that ever they had played
siccan a pliskie. The first was a stout, clever fellow,
ca'd Matthew Muckley. He was a sailor; and when
his ship arrived at Leith, he cam' ower the Forth to see
his faither and mither that dwelt in Abernethy. It was
about New-Year time ; and Matthew's pouches were
weel lined wi' siller; and him and his auld acquaint-

344 Narratives from Scottish History.

ances drank helter-skelter, and kicked up the awfu'est
dust that ever was seen. Weel, ae nicht the story o' the
Cradle cam' aboon board, and the sailor swore he wad
gang to the loch-side, and try his luck. As nane o' his
drucken cronies durst gang wi' him, they agreed to sit
up and drink afore he earn' back, either wi' the Cradle
ablo his oxter, or at least an account o' his adventure.
Aff he gaed, and they waited till daylicht, and nae word
o' him ; syne aff they set to the Law in search o' him ;
but their search was a' in vain ; for, frae that day to this
his disappearance has remained a dead mystery ! And,
secondly, there was Jock Pilversie wha tried it, and
though he cam' back he was an idiot a' his days after't,
and could never tell a word about what he had heard or
seen. And, again, there was Tarn Pitcurran that gaed
too, and was deaf and dumb till the day o' his death.
My granny kent a' thae three ; but how mony tried it
afore her day I canna say." And in this vein the
legends run.

A practical joke has been often played upon treasure-
seekers by a great boulder in a field in Galloway, upon
the upper surface of which are inscribed the following
words —

Lift me up, and I'll tell you more.

Those who were at the trouble to turn over the stone,
expecting the revelation of a valuable secret, found this
corresponding line on the under surface —

Lay me down as I was before.

A curious discovery of money was made in the
parish of Strathblane, about the year 1793, which is
circumstantially related in the old Statistical Account.

Traditionary Stories. 345

The pose was found inside a log of wood about a foot
and a-half square, and comprised silver coins of Queen
Elizabeth, James I., and Charles I., with a few gold
coins, amounting altogether to the sum of ^40. The
money was ingeniously concealed : a small triangular
opening was cut into one of the sides of the wood, by
which an interior excavation was made, sufficient to
hold the deposit, and the aperture was then neatly
closed up with a piece of wood, fastened with wooden
pegs, so as to elude observation. The parish minister
added the following interesting observation : —

The history of the log itself is somewhat singular. It can be
traced back for forty years. At that time, it is remembered to
have served as a prop to the end of a bench in a schoolhouse near
the church. Afterwards it was used as a plaything by children,
who amused themselves by carrying it to the top of a declivity,
whence it rolled to the bottom. It then lay many years on the
wall of the churchyard. At last, it was appropriated by a crazy
old woman, a pauper, who lived in a hut by herself. She used it
as a seat for above a dozen of years. She dying, a neighbour was
employed to wash the clothes that were found in her house. As
fuel was scarce, the log was laid on the fire to heat water for that
purpose ; it not burning quickly, the washer-woman took it oflf,
and proceeded to cleave it with a hatchet. At the first stroke the
treasure came out and was secured by the woman, who, perceiving
the value, wished to conceal it. In a few days, however, it was
divulged. But the woman's husband, who was a worthless fellow,
got hold of it, and decamped with the whole amount ; a few pieces
excepted, which he had previously sold. He has not since been
seen in the country, and has left his wife to support five children
by her own industry.

In the end of the year 1761, a case of alleged hidden

treasure came before the Sheriff Court of Perthshire, on

a summons raised at the instance of William M'Laren,

journeyman shoemaker in Perth ; Janet M'Laren, there;

23

346 Narratives from Scottish History.

and Agnes M'Laren, spouse to Thomas Williamson,
weaver, there, executors dative qua nearest of kin to the
deceased Janet M'Laren, in Easter Halton of Cargill,
against James Williamson, in Wester Hatton. The
summons set forth that the said deceased Janet
M'Laren, the pursuers' aunt, having lived in a cottar
house in Easter Hatton for three or four years ; and the
said Janet lived in the house with her ; and about the
month of January, 1739, while the defunct was on her
death-bed, she told that for security of keeping her
money she had lodged or deposited the same in the
floor of her house, and she then legated it to the said
Janet, with the burden of paying to the said William
^"50 Scots to put him to the shoemaking trade. She
died very soon after, and the said Janet made search for
the money after the defunct's funeral, but she did not find
it. In a few years after, the defender entered to and
possessed the said house for several years, and found
the money in the earth or floor of the house safely de-
posited, which he intromitted with, and about two years
ago he did openly in a public company, before wit-
nesses, acknowledge that he had got forty-six guineas
or red-heads in the defunct's floor, which had been de-
posited by her.

The defender lodged defences, denying the libel as
laid. It was not till sixteen years after the defunct's
death that he came to reside in her house, and he resided
in it for four and a half years. He was informed that
after her death her friends searched the whole floor of
the house, and demolished the house itself, and again
rebuilt it. About two years ago the defender happened
to be in a company at Coupar-Angus, when some of the
company having said in a joke (as he apprehended) that

Traditionary Stories. 347

" he had got the said Janet's pose, consisting of about
fifty guineas," he answered that if he had got that sum,
he would not have lived in a grass house,"* as he had so
long done.

The Sheriff having ordered a proof to be taken, the
pursuers, on 6th November, adduced the following wit-
nesses : —

1. Alexander M'Laren, in Easter Hatton of Cargill. He heard
the defunct say when on death-bed that she had 50 guineas de-
posited in the floor of her house below the bed she lay on. He
was in company with the defender, in the house of Thomas Ed-
ward, brewer in Coupar- Angus, about Martinmas, 1759, when
others were present ; and when the reckoning was to be paid, the
company said to the defender that they would not have him to pay
any because he was late of coming ; but the defender said he was
as able to pay as any of them, and upon that chapped upon his
breeches ; and some of the company said that if it was true what
was reported of his getting the old woman's money he ought to be
able enough ; and the defender, directing his discourse to the de-
ponent, asked him how much there was said there was of the
money, and the deponent answered it was reported there was more
than fifty guineas of it — yea, near to sixty, and the defender there-
upon said he knew better than any of them, for devil one more
there was than two and forty red-heads, though he was brought to
oath for it ; and the deponent having said that if there was white
money enough it would make up the account, the defender
answered, " You shall know no more of it this night," and said
that none of the name of M'Laren had the courage to go under the
ground, and although he got that money he was doing harm to no
man. The defunct's house was a grass house, and she died on the
Windy Saturday, which was in January, 1739.

2. John Cant, in Easter Hatton, was in the company in
Edwards' house, and corroborated the preceding witness as to what
the defender said about the forty-two guineas. He never heard

* A grass house was a cottar house— both terms being synonymous.

348 Narratives from Scottish History.

defunct speaking about that money ; but it was generally reported
that she had a pose. The defender was reputed a poor man when
he came to possess the defunct's house, but afterwards he seemed
to have money. It was his own opinion that the defunct was not
very sensible when she was on death-bed.

3. Elizabeth Galletly, spouse to the above John Cant, was with
her husband in Edwards' house, and deponed alike to him.

4. Thomas Cross, in Easter Hatton : The defunct lived in a
cottar house of his, and one night when he was visiting her on
death-bed, he heard her say that she had some money in the earth
below her bed, with two peats above it ; and one James M'Laren,
now deceased, being present, reached in his hand below the bed,
but he did not dig up any of the earth, neither could he get in
below the bed so as to search for the money. The defender was a
poor man when he came there, but was now reputed in better cir-
cumstances. The deponent saw a part of the floor digged in order
to fix the feet of the defender's bed.

5. John Craig, in Easter Hatton, aged 75, had frequently heard
the defunct say that she had a pose in the ground below her bed.

No further steps appear to have been taken in the
process, so that we may conclude that the parties settled
the matter extrajudicially.

We end the subject here, forbearing to deal with the
numerous instances on record of buried and otherwise
concealed money being discovered accidentally in various
parts of Scotland.

Traditionary Stories. 349

V.
THE CORPSE-CANDLES.

Corpse-candles gliding over nameless graves.

— Tennyson's ' ' Harold. "

And where that sackless knight lay slain,
The candles burned bright.

—Ballad of ' 4 Earl Richard."

THE Ignis fatui, or "moss-traversing spunkies," which
" decoy the wight that late and drunk is," luring him
astray to his destruction in bog or ditch, have been
common in marshy districts, and were long regarded as
"tricksy sprites," whose office was mischief. But the
similar phenomena, under the name of Corpse- Candles,
when occasionally seen at night burning solemnly in
lone churchyards, and also in desert places where per-
chance they pointed out the secret graves of the
murdered, or glided slowly along, presumably indicating
the course of a future funeral, inspired far more awe
and dread, and formed the subject of a profound super-
stitious belief to former generations. We can well
understand what terror would seize the ignorant and
credulous peasant, on his homeward journey in the
dark, as he glanced timidly in the direction of the silent
burial-place near which his road lay, and perceived
twinkling lights hovering above the graves or wandering
amongst the grassy hillocks and the grey headstones !
His heated imagination would exaggerate what he saw,
and the science and learning of his day could afford no
rational explanation of such fearsome mysteries.

350 Narratives from Scottish History.

The superstition relating to Corpse-Lights pervaded
various countries from early ages. The Venerable Bede
records that the priest Peter, the first Abbot of St.
Augustine's monastery, near Canterbury, " being sent
Ambassador into France, was drowned in a bay of the
sea, which is called Amphleat, and privately buried by
the inhabitants of the place; but Almighty God, to
show how deserving a man he was, caused a light to be
seen over his grave every night ; till all the neighbours
who saw it, perceiving that he had been a holy man
who was buried there, inquiring who, and from whence
lie was, carried away the body, and interred it in the
church, in the city of Boulogne, with the honour due to
so great a person." *

Another manner of manifestation of such lights was
believed to be their appearance, at night, over waters
under which drowned corpses lay. Thus, an old
example is said to have occurred, in 1383, on the
martyrdom of the Bohemian saint, John Nepomucen —
so surnamed from his being born at Nepomue, a small
town some leagues from the city of Prague. The Saint
incurred the wrath of Wenceslaus IV., Emperor and
King of Bohemia, who threatened him with torture and
death unless he revealed the confession of the Empress
Jane. St. John, refusing to break the seal of confession,
he was seized at Prague, under cloud of night, by the
tyrant's orders, and " thrown off the bridge which joins
the Great and Little Prague, into the river Muldaw,
with his hands and feet tied, on the vigil of the Ascen-
sion, the 1 6th of May, 1383. The martyr was no sooner
stifled in the waters, but a heavenly light appeared over

* Ecclesiastical History, Book I., chap. 23.

Traditionary Stories. 351

his body floating on the river, and drew many to the
banks. The Empress ran in to the Emperor, not
knowing what had happened, and inquired what was the
occasion of the lights which she saw on the river. The
tyrant struck at the news, fled in a hurry, like a man
distracted, to a country house, forbidding any one to
follow him. The morning discovered the villany, and
the executioners betrayed the secret. The whole city
flocked to the place ; the canons of the cathedral went
in procession, took up the body with great honour, and
carried it into the Church of the Holy Cross of the
Penitents, which was the next to the place where the
body was found."*

The old French romance of Renaud of Montauban,
furnishes a notable example of this superstition. The
valorous hero, Renaud, driven to extremity by the
implacable hostility of Charlemagne, passes away, in
humble disguise, to Cologne, where he becomes a
labourer to the masons employed in building the Church
of St. Peter, and performs herculean feats in carrying
large stones. Filled with mortal envy, the masons con-
spired against him, knocked out his brains, and flung
his body into the Rhine. What followed ? " All the
fish of the river gathered them about the corpse, and
bore him above the river so that he appeared to every
man's sight, and when night was come, there was so
great light about the corpse, that all they that saw it
weened the river was afire." t

* Butler's Lives of the Saints, May 1 6.

t Renaud of Montauban : First done into English by William
Carton, and now abridged and re-translated by Robert Steele.
London : 1897, p. 279.

352 Narratives from Scottisli History.

The same superstition took deep root in Scotland and
Wales. Mr. Davis, a Welsh clergyman, communicated
to Mr. Richard Baxter, a particular account of these
strange appearances, which the worthy author of The
Saints Rest inserted in his Certainty of the World of
Spirits. " Those fiery apparitions," says Mr. Davis,
" we call Canhwyllan Cyrph (i.e.), Corps Candles ; and
candles we call them, not that we see anything besides
the light ; but because that light doth as much resemble
a material candle-light as eggs do eggs, saving that in their
journey these candles be mode apparentes, mode dis-
parentes, especially when one comes near them ; and if
any one come in the way against them, unto whom they
vanish; but presently appear behind and hold on
their course. If it be a little candle pale or bluish, then
follows the corps/' after some interval of time, of an
infant ; if the candle be big, " then the corpse of some
one come to age : if there be seen two, or three, or
more, some big, some small, together, then so many and
such corpses together. If two candles come from divers
places, and be seen to meet, the corpses will do the
like; if any of these candles are seen to turn, some-
times a little out of the way, or path, that leadeth to the
church, the following corps will be forced to turn in that
very place, for the avoiding some dirty lane or plash, etc.
Now," he proceeds, " let us fall to evidence. Being
about the age of fifteen, dwelling at Lanylar, late at
night, some neighbours saw one of these candles hover-
ing up and down along the river bank, until they were
weary in beholding it ; at last they left it so, and went
to bed. A few weeks after, came a proper damsel from
Montgomeryshire, to see her friend, who dwelt on the
other side of that river Istwith, and thought to ford the

Traditionary Stories. 353

river at that very place where the light was seen ; being
dissuaded by some lookers-on (some it is most likely of
those that saw the light) to adventure on the water,
which was high by reason of a flood, she walked up and
down along the river bank, even where, and even as the
aforesaid candle did, waiting for the falling of the water,
which at last she took, but too soon for her, for she was
drowned therein." Quaint John Aubrey copies Mr.
Davis' letter in his entertaining Miscellanies, and adds
that " my worthy friend and neighbour, Randal Caldicot,
D.D., hath affirmed to me many years since, viz. :
When any Christian is drowned in the river Dee, there
will appear over the water, where the corpse is, a light,
by which means they do find the body : and it is, there-
fore, called the Holy Dee."

The popular writer, George Borrow, mentions that
during his Welsh peregrinations, in our own day, he was
told by his guide that the Corpse-Candles did more than
foreshow people's deaths. " They are very dangerous
for anybody to meet with. If they ever bump up against
you when you are walking very carefully it's generally all
over with you in this world. I'll give you an example :
A man returning from market from Llan Eglos to Llan
Curig, not far from Plynlimmon, was struck down dead
as a horse not long ago by a Corpse-Candle. It was a
rainy, windy night, and the wind and rain were blowing
in his face, so that he could not see it, or get out of its
way. And yet the candle was not abroad on purpose to
kill the man. The business that it was about was to
prognosticate the death of a woman who lived near the
spot and whose husband dealt in wool — poor thing ! she
was dead and buried in less than a fortnight ! " *

* Wild Wales, chap. Ixxxviii.

354 Narratives from Scottish History.

Further, Sacheverell, in his Account of the Isle of Man,
relates that " Captain Leather, chief magistrate of Bel-
fast, in the year 1690, who had been previously ship-
wrecked on the coast of Man, assured him that, when he
landed after shipwreck, several people told him that he
had lost thirteen men, for they had seen so many lights
move towards the churchyard, which was exactly the
number of the drowned." So much for the Welsh and
the Manx.

Sir Walter Scott states, in his Border Minstrelsy, that
he was informed that some years previously "the corpse
of a man, drowned in the Ettrick, below Selkirk, was
discovered by means of these candles. Such lights," he
adds, " are common in churchyards, and are probably of
a phosphoric nature. But rustic superstition derives
them from supernatural agency, and supposes, that, as
soon as life has departed, a pale flame appears at the
window of the house in which the person had died, and
glides towards the churchyard, tracing through every
winding the route of the future funeral, and pausing
where the bier is to rest. This and other opinions,
relating to the ' tomb-fires' livid gleam,' seem to be of
Runic extraction." The fine old ballad of Earl Richard
illustrates the superstition very strikingly. The lady-
love of Earl Richard, actuated, apparently, by a violent
fit of jealousy, poisoned him at a banquet, and committed
his body to the depths of a pot or hole in the river
Clyde. On suspicion of foul play arising, the King com-
manded that the water be searched. This was effected
by means of diving ; but the divers failed of success.

They douked in at ae wellhead,

And out aye at the other ;
"We can douk nae mair for Erl Richard,

Although he were our brother."

Traditionary Stories. 355

The King having lodged, during these operations, in the
" ladye's castle," a popinjay (or parrot) " that flew abune
his head," chattered to him that he should have the
Clyde searched by night, when the Corpse- Lights would
reveal where the body lay. This sage advice was gladly
taken.

They left their douking on the day,

And doukit upon the night ;
And where that sackless knight lay slain,

The candles burned bright.

The deepest pot in a' the linn,

They fand Erl Richard in ;
A greene turfe tyed across his breast,

To keep that gude lord down.

Still there was a doubt as to the perpetrator of the
crime ; but the popinjay solved it by affirming that the
lady " took his life, and hided him in the linn." The
lady, on being impeached, firmly denied her guilt.

She swore her by the grass sae grene,

Sae did she by the corn,
She had na seen him, Erl Richard,

Since Moninday at morn.

" Put na the wite on me," she said ;

" It was my may Catherine."
Then they ha'e cut baith fern and thorn,

To burn that maiden in.

It wadna take upon her cheik,

Nor yet upon her chin ;
Nor yet upon her yellow hair,

To cleanse the deadly sin.

But although the fair may's innocence was thus attested
by the fire, she was next subjected, along with her mis-
tress, to the ordeal of touching the dead body.

356 Narratives from Scottish History.

The maiden touched the clay-cauld corpse,

A drap it never bled ;
The ladye laid her hand on him,

And soon the ground was red.

Out they ha'e ta'en her, may Catherine,

And put her mistress in :
The flame tuik fast upon her cheik,

Tuik fast upon her chin ;
Tuik fast upon her faire bodye —

She burn'd like hollins green.

A story is told of a serving-man, who, while riding alone
at midnight, on a dreary road, was startled to observe a
lambent flame, elevated a few inches above the ground,
slowly approach him, on the other side of the way. In
great alarm, he drew up his reins, and paused. The
light still advanced, until on coming exactly opposite to
him, it stopped likewise, and continued stationary as
long as he stood there. When he put spurs to his
horse, the flame resumed its progress, and speedily
vanished in the gloom. Some short time afterwards, the
man's master died suddenly ; his funeral went along the
road on which the light was seen, and an accident
occurring, the hearse halted on the very spot where the
light had stopped !

The Corpse-Candles were well known in the High-
lands : and Mrs. Grant of Laggan, in her Essays on
Highland Superstitions, relates an extraordinary sight
witnessed by a venerable minister of the north : —

It was his custom to go forth and meditate at even ; and this
solitary walk he always directed to his church-yard, which was
situated in a shaded spot, on the banks of a river. There, in a
dusky October evening, he took his wonted path, and lingered,
leaning on the church-yard wall, till it became twilight, when he
saw two small lights rise from a spot within, where there was no

Traditionary Stories. 357

stone, nor memorial of any kind. He observed the course these
lights took, and saw them cross the river, and stop at an opposite
hamlet. Presently they returned, accompanied by a larger light,
which moved on between them, till they arrived at the place from
which the first two set out, when all the three seemed to sink into
the earth together.

The good man went into the church-yard, and threw a few stones
on the spot where the lights disappeared. Next morning he
walked out early, called for the sexton, and showed him the place,
asking if he remembered who was buried there. The man said,
that many years, he remembered burying in that spot, two young
children, belonging to a blacksmith on the opposite side of the
river, who was now a very old man. The pastor returned, and
was scarce set down to breakfast, when a message came to hurry
him to come over to pray with the smith, who had been suddenly
taken ill, and who died next day.

This story he told to my old friend, from whom 1 heard it ; and
I am much more willing to suppose that he was deceived by an
ignis fatuus, than to think either could be guilty of falsehood.*

Long ago, in a Perthshire hamlet, nestling at the foot
of the Grampians, there dwelt, sayeth tradition, a young
maiden of rustic parentage, who inherited a beauty
which made her the pride and boast of her birth-place.
She had many admirers, and among the rest two youths,
both of whom belonged to a rank much superior to her
own. Love — and their's was fervent — levels all con-
ventional distinctions ; and so each of these ardent
suitors was prepared to brave the wrath of his proud
kindred for the sake of her heart and hand. One of the
youths became the accepted lover, and when this was
discovered by the rival, his wrath knew no bounds, and
he vowed deadly vengeance. One day, they chanced to
meet in a secluded glen, where they presently came to

* Essays, vol. I, p. 259.

358 Narratives from Scottish History.

high words and fierce recrimination. They fought, and
the fair girl's betrothed fell pierced to the heart. The
victor hurriedly committed the corpse to the earth, and
fled from the fatal spot. The disappearance of the slain
youth occasioned much commotion in the district ;
inquiry was made in vain. He had left his home in
hunting gear, and was last seen on a hill side, in pursuit
of a wounded roe ; but all subsequent trace of him was
lost. Day followed day, and still he came not — still his
fate was hidden, and not a shadow of suspicion attached
to his rival. After the lapse of some time, a rumour
began to spread among the peasantry that mystic
lights were frequently visible at night in the glen where
the tragedy was consummated. Strange surmises passed
from lip to lip. A watch was set in the glen, and a dim,
trembling flame was seen in a particular nook, but when
approached, though ever so stealthily, it glided away and
disappeared. A " wise woman " of the parish was con-
sulted, and she gave her opinion that some dead body
lay interred beneath the spot where the Corpse-Candle
had shone. The place being dug up, the mouldering
remains of the youth were brought to light. His slayer
no sooner heard of the discovery than, overcome with
remorse and apprehension, he sought relief from his
misery, by flinging himself headlong from the brow of a
lofty precipice !

Another legend, though it cannot be said to refer to
Corpse-Lights in their common acceptation, is neverthe-
less worthy of a place in this connection.

A poor widow, in a rural parish of the Perthshire
Lowlands, was left with an only child, a girl of tender
age, in whom her dearest affections centred, and whom
she fondly trusted would prove the* solace and stay of

Traditionary Stories. 359

her declining years. Not many summers had shed their
sunshine on the flaxen tresses of the widow's daughter,
when she sickened and died. The bereaved mother, in
her desolation, was inconsolable ; she sorrowed as one
without hope in the world, refusing to be comforted.
The condolements of neighbours were unavailing : she was
stricken to the heart, and her cheeks became furrowed
with tears. Daily she spent hours at her child's grave,
bemoaning herself, and weeping bitterly : and all re-
monstrances against this unceasing sorrow, she answered
with fresh floods of tears. One morning, however, it
was observed with pleased surprise that her habitual
anguish seemed assuaged. Her cheeks were dry, her
looks calm, breathing a holy resignation. When ques-
tioned by a friend as to this salutary change, she, with
some hesitation, related a thrilling story : —

" Yestreen," she said, " when a' my wark was dune, I
gaed awa' to the kirkyard, and leaned me doon at Mary's
grave — my head and my heart like to rend. The
gloaming darkened, and nicht cam', without a glisk o*
the young moon through the thick clouds. Lang, lang
I sat as in a dream, till I started, and cam' to mysel' in
the mirk, wi' a strange eeriness on me, and looked about,
and saw mony clear lichts, like candles, coming blinking
in at the slap o' the kirkyard dyke : and as they drew
nearer, I saw it was a band o' bonny bairns, a' dressed
in white, and ilka ane wi' a lichted candle in its hand —
na, no them a' ; for there was ane that had a candle,
but it wasna burning : and that ane — as they gathered
in a ring around me — that ane was my Mary hersel'.
' Mary ! ' I cried, ' Mary, what for haena you a lichted
candle like your neighbours ? ' And, wi' a sad smile,
she answered me, ' Mither, it's your tears that are aye

360 Narratives from Scottish History.

drooning my candle oot ! I am in the place o' happi-
ness; but your sorrow is sair for me to bide. You will
be wi' me, mither, when it's the Master's holy will, and
we'll never part again. Dicht your een, and greet for
me nae mair, and my licht will burn bonnily, like the
lave ! ' That was a' she said ; and before I had time
to put in anither word, the haill ring o' bairns and their
candles vanished awa', and the moon, doon in the west,
broke through the clouds, and shone dimly over the
graves. I rose to my feet, and thankit God for the
visitation, vowing that my sinfu' tears should droon oot
my dear lassie's licht nae mair ; for the Lord gave, and
the Lord took awa' — blessed be His name : and where-
fore should I, a worm of the dust, complain o' His
chastening hand ? " And to her dying day, she would
never admit the probability that this suggestive scene
passed only in a dream.

" The belief was general throughout Scotland," says Sir
Walter Scott, in the Notes to Redgauntlet, "that the
excessive lamentation over the loss of friends disturbed
the repose of the dead, and broke even the rest of the
grave. There are several instances of this in tradition."
The belief was also common in other countries from
early times.

Modern scientific research explains the phenomena of
Corpse-Candles as caused by the exhalations or gases
arising from decaying animal matter. The Baron Von
Reichenbach, the eminent German writer on magnetism,
mentions cases in which persons of highly-sensitive tem-
perament beheld luminous vapour ascending from graves,
though nothing of the kind was discernible by their com-
panions. One experiment was made in the German
poet, PfefTeFs, garden, by a young man, named Billing : —

Traditionary Stories. 361

The poet, being blind, had employed a young clergyman of the
evangelical church, as amanuensis. Pfeffel, when he walked out,
was supported and led by this young man, who?e name was
Billing. As they walked in the garden, at some distance from the
town, Pfeffel observed that, as often as they passed over a particu-
lar spot, the arm of Billing trembled, and he betrayed uneasiness.
On being questioned, the young man reluctantly confessed that, as
often as he passed over that spot, certain feelings attacked him
which he could not control, and that he always experienced the
same in passing over any place where human bodies lay buried.
He added, that at night, when he came near such places, he saw
supernatural appearances. Pfeftel, with the view of curing the
youth of what he looked on as a fancy, went that night with him
to the garden. As they approached the spot in the dark, Billing
perceived a feeble light, and when still nearer, he saw a luminous
ghost-like figure floating over the spot. This he described as a
female form, with one arm laid across the body, the other hanging
down, floating in the upright posture, but tranquil, the feet only a
hand-breadth or two above the soil. Pfeffel went alone, as the
young man declined to follow him, up to the place where the figure
was said to be, and struck about in all directions with his stick,
besides running actually through the shadow ; but the figure was
not more affected than a flame would have been : the luminous
form, according to Billing, always returned to its original position
after these experiments. Many things were tried during several
months, and numerous companies of people were brought to the
spot, but the matter remained the same, and the ghost-seer
adhered to his serious assertion, and to the opinion founded on it,
that some individual lay buried there. At last, Pfeffel had the
place dug up. At a considerable depth was found a firm layer of
white lime, of the length and breadth of a grave, and of consider-
able thickness, and when this had been broken into, there were
found the bones of a human being, It was evident that some one
had been buried in the place, and covered with a thick layer of
lime (quick-lime), as is generally done in times of pestilence, of
earthquakes, and other similar events. The bones were removed,
the pit filled up, the lime mixed and scattered abroad, and the
surface again made smooth. When Billing was now brought back
to the place, the phenomena did not return, and the nocturnal
spirit had for ever disappeared.

24

362 Narratives from Scottish History.

The Baron himself, in order to try the like experi-
ment, brought "a highly-sensitive patient by night to a
churchyard," and the result was not disappointing : —

It appeared possible that such a person might see over graves in
which mouldering bodies lie, something similar to that which
Billing had seen. Mdlle. Reichel had the courage, rare in her sex,
to gratify this wish of the author. On two very dark nights she
allowed herself to be taken from the castle of Reisenberg, where
she was living with the author's family, to the neighbouring
churchyard of Grunzing. The result justified his anticipation in
the most beautiful manner. She very soon saw a light, and
observed on one of the graves, along its length, a delicate,
breathing flame : she also saw the same thing, only weaker, on a
second grave. But she saw neither witches nor ghosts ; she
described the fiery appearance as a shining vapour, one to two
spans high, extending as far as the grave, and floating near its
surface. Some time afterwards she was taken to two large
cemeteries near Vienna, where several burials occur daily, and
graves lie about by thousands. Here she saw numerous graves
provided with similar lights. Wherever she looked, she saw
luminous masses scattered about. But this appearance was most
vivid over the newest graves, while in tne oldest it could not be
perceived. She described the appearance less as a clear flame,
than as a dense vaporous mass of fire, intermediate between fog
and flame. On many graves the flame was four feet high, so that
when she stood on them, it surrounded her up to the neck. If she
thrust her hand into it, it was like putting it into a dense fiery
cloud. She betrayed no uneasiness, because she had all her life
been accustomed to such emotions, and had seen the same, in the
author's experiments, often produced by natural causes. Many
ghost stories will now find their natural explanation. We can also
see that it was not altogether erroneous, when old women
declared that all had not the gift to see the departed wandering
about their graves ; for it must always have been the sensitive
alone who were able to perceive the light given out by the
chemical action going on in the corpse. The author has thus, he
hopes, succeeded in tearing down one of the most impenetrable
barriers erected by dark ignorance and superstitious folly against
the progress of natural truth.

Traditionary Stories. 363

These cases, granting their authenticity, certainly tend
to explain the appearance of lights over graves, and in
morasses and other places where inflammable gases are
generated. It is generally believed that such lights
occur oftener during autumn than at any other season of
the year, which may be accounted for by reason of "the
rapid changes of the atmospheric pressure, which allows
the gases inclosed in the earth to escape more easily by
favouring their natural electricity." It is told that at
Bologna, in 1843, Onofrio Zanotti, the painter, saw the
phenomenon in the form of globes of fire, issuing from
between the paving-stones in the street, and even among
his feet : they rose upwards, and disappeared ; and he
even felt their heat when they passed near him. But
the vast extension of drainage in our own country has
circumscribed the dangerous haunts of Will-o'-the- Wisp ;
while the terror- striking Corpse-Candle is now rarely
heard of, save in stories around the Christmas and New-
Year's hearths.

In our own day, it has been averred that strange
lights are occasionally seen in the Gulf of St. Lawrence,
on the Canadian coast, burning with great brilliancy from
midnight till morning, and visible from the shores. The
mysterious flames, however, do not indicate the watery
graves

Of them that sleep
Full many a fathom deep ;

but portend coming storms and wrecks.

With this, we conclude the subject and the book
together.

FINIS.

DA Fittis, Robert Scott

760 Romantic narratives

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